General
This easy-to-grow plant looks like an overgrown celery plant and is used to flavour soups and stews. Lovage will attract beneficial predatory wasps with their blooms shaped like big cartwheels. In Germany and Holland, a common name of Lovage is Maggikraut (German) or Maggiplant (Dutch) because the plant's taste is similar to Maggi soup seasoning.
Latin
Levisticum officinale
Apiaceae family.
Difficulty
Easy.
Season & Zone
Season: Warm season.
Exposure: Full-sun, sun and part-shade.
Zone: Hardy from zone 3 and up.
Planting Seeds
Indoors: Start a few seeds in a pot, then transplant into the garden 60cm (24") apart.
Outdoors: Start in the garden in the Fall and thin when plants are large enough to stand 60cm (24") apart.
Preparing Soil
Choose the site for your lovage plants very carefully, as they are long lived and very large! They will tolerate shade or lots of sunshine. Lovage has a long tap root, so dig the soil well and add well-rotted manure.
Planting
Most gardens need only one or two of these plants. Consider placing lovage with other perennial vegetables, such as asparagus and rhubarb. Allow for a spread of 1 metre (36") at least.
Diseases & Pests
Aphids.
Harvest
The leaves of lovage can part a wonderful meaty flavour to vegetable soups, stews and stocks. After the herb has flowered, the leaves gain a bitter taste, so it is best harvested in early Summer and frozen as you would parsley. Chop the leaves finely and distribute them in ice cube trays, then cover with water. When the cubes are frozen, put them in ziplock bags.
Chopping back a big plant may expose you to the sap, which can burn skin.
Companion Plants
