And they smell amazing! Do it!
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I will, I promise!
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I grew tarragon for the first time last year. French tarragon, bought as a small plant from the garden centre. It was fine. Last autumn, I cut it back and froze the chopped leaves in freezer ice cube trays (did the same with mint and chives). No idea if it will survive the winter as I know it is on the tender side.
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I grow them in WI, and last summer wasn’t very hot. My jalapenos were fricken hot (the way I like 'em.)
I do prefer habaneros, though. The nose feel is amazing. Little hotter, but more flavor/floral.
I adore tarragon, especially in hollandaise.
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Wow, what an intriguing question! I’ve never actually grown it, since I don’t care for the taste, but you got me very curious!
I found that Wikipedia actually has some pretty good info about it and there’s an excellent article in Fine Gardening:
Briefly, it seems that French Tarragon—Artemisia dranunculus var. sativa, the culinary subspecies—produces only sterile flowers and no seed, so it must be propagated by cuttings: root or stem. (It spreads and propagates itself via its rhizomatous roots.) It’s also not hardy and sounds like it’s rather a fuss to grow repeatedly, successfully.
I wonder if large growers aren’t propagating it—which is way more work—but are trying to use seeds, which must be from another subspecies that isn’t actually good for cooking…?
It also sounds like Russian Tarragon resembles it closely (but is flavorless) and can easily get substituted and even sport naturally from the aromatic variety. Or again, maybe this is an attempt at a shortcut by large growers…?
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When I lived in France, tarragon (the culinary type, aka French tarragon) grew in everybody’s garden, and nobody had to care much for it: it died in the Winter and reappeared in Spring, like a weed… When I moved to Portugal, I tried to plant some, and discovered it was extremely difficult :o) Having bought seeds, many plants, all seemed to revert to the tasteless Russian type. 2 years ago, I ordered 6 small plants from a French specialized nursery (!), of which 2 have survived so far and have given me enough tarragon to sustain my kitchen and dry some for the Winter. They are in dormant state at this time, I hope they will reappear next month, fingers crossed. All the plants I planted in full earth died, so my 2 surviving plants are in a large pot. Good luck!
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The problem with switching to habanero et al is that the flavor is also different.
So far my farm stand has come through, but we’ll see how this year goes.
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Right. I wasn’t suggesting that all peppers are interchangeable, but since jalapeños barely deliver any heat anymore (at least what’s available in the supermarkets — perhaps our locally grown peppers do), I’m ok with that. Plus I prefer the flavor of habanero.
Don’t doubt you here, but delicate herbs like tarragon and lavenders come through pretty well here (USA). Maybe there was a bad year.
If someone is selling wild tarragon (or Mint), I find those get weakened a lot.
Another thread involving tarragon.
