Plant · P-598

Hyssop

Hyssopus officinalis

Hyssop is a bushy Mediterranean subshrub whose sage-and-mint-flavored leaves and flowers season soups and salads, but it earns its keep more as a hedge and pollinator plant than a kitchen herb - it trims into a tidy low hedge, draws bees and butterflies heavily, and shelters overwintering insects. It has a long history as a household remedy for coughs and bronchitis, but the essential oil can trigger convulsions and should be avoided by anyone prone to seizures or in pregnancy. It wants sharply drained, dry, slightly alkaline ground and tolerates real drought and hard cold well, but rots in wet winter soil. It is naturally short-lived and is usually cut back hard each spring and replaced every few years.