Plant · P-611

Ajwain

Trachyspermum ammi

Ajwain is a frost-tender annual grown for a small, pungently aromatic seed used to flavor curries, pulses, breads and fried pastry, and just as prized as a traditional remedy - its thymol-rich oil is used for colds, coughs, indigestion, wind and arthritis. A single plant is self-fertile and will set seed on its own, flowering and ripening in mid to late summer. It needs full sun, cannot grow in shade, and wants soil kept moist all season, but frost kills it outright, so it is sown fresh each spring wherever winters bite. It does not self-sow or naturalize, so each planting has to be deliberate.