The sweet umbel can be used in the scent and herb garden, but also simply as a decorative perennial in the garden. It is also very popular with bees.
If you like liquorice and anise, you will love the sweet umbel. It smells very aromatic and tastes like the popular candy. With us you will learn everything about the correct handling of the plant and receive tips for using it in the kitchen.
Sweet umbel: origin and characteristics
The sweet umbel (Myrrhis) genus includes only one species, namely the sweet umbel (Myrrhis odorata). It belongs to the umbelliferae family (Apiaceae) and is also known as sweet chervil or Spanish chervil. The wild plant native to us used to grow in the mountains, but is now widespread throughout Europe and even occurs in Chile. It can reach heights of up to 2 meters, but usually stays smaller. The perennial, herbaceous plant bears white flowers arranged in double umbels. The large green leaves are pinnate, appear like ferns and are soft to the touch. The whole plant smells and tastes of anise and is therefore also used in the kitchen. When the sweet umbel is in bloom, i.e. from May to August, many insects also enjoy their white umbels.
Warning: The sweet umbel looks quite similar to the spotted hemlock (Conium maculatum). However, this is poisonous and must not be consumed. Therefore, only harvest the sweet umbel if you are absolutely sure.
Planting sweet umbel: location and procedure
The sweet umbel likes locations on humus-rich, nutrient-rich and fresh to moist soil in partial shade, preferably in the shade of larger trees or shrubs. If it gets a little more sun or shade, that doesn't do any harm to its he alth.
The sweet umbel can be bought as a young plant or you can sow it yourself.
The sweet umbel is best sowed directly in the bed in autumn or in a pot. Since the sweet umbel belongs to the cold germs, the impact is lowerWinter temperatures needed for seeds to be seen between March and April next spring. The sweet umbel needs a lot of space and is therefore best planted individually or in groups of at least three with a distance of at least 40 cm. If you want to keep the plant in a pot, it should be deep enough, as the sweet umbel develops a long taproot.
If you have purchased a young plant, it should not be planted out until May.
For planting in pots, it is best to use nutrient-rich soil with a high humus content, such as our Plantura organic compost soil. It consists of natural raw materials and is completely peat-free. The high content of organic matter also ensures active soil life and thus fertile soil. It is therefore a good idea to add a little compost to the garden soil when planting, especially if the soil is sandy.
Tip: The sweet umbel can also grow on sandy soil, but then remains smaller.
The right care
Depending on the location and the weather, the sweet umbel needs to be watered and fertilized occasionally. If it stands on a suitable floor, maintenance measures are less necessary. If the sweet umbel is kept in a bucket, it should be repotted regularly.
Especially in summer it is important that the soil of the sweet umbel does not dry out completely. It should be watered from time to time, but shorter periods of drought are not a problem. Soils with a high proportion of sand, which cannot hold water very well, should be watered more frequently.
Due to the relatively high nutrient requirement, you should fertilize the sweet umbel. A complete fertilizer that contains all the important nutrients is suitable here. Especially if you want to use the sweet umbel in the kitchen, it is best to use an organic fertilizer, such as our Plantura organic universal fertilizer. The nutrients are provided slowly over a period of at least three months, so that you don't have to keep adding fertilizer. If the sweet umbel grows in a pot, it should be supplied with liquid fertilizer, such as our Plantura organic flower fertilizer, about every 4 weeks during the vegetation period, which you administer with the irrigation water. Alternatively, if you have a composter in your garden, you can regularly work compost into the garden soil.
Even if the sweet umbel dies in the cold season, you don't have to worry about the frost-hardy perennial. It will sprout again next spring.
Is the sweet umbel hardy? The sweet umbel is hardy and does not need additional protection. It tolerates temperatures down to -29 °C and survives in the ground.
Increase sweet umbel
As a rule, the sweet umbel multiplies all by itself through self-sowing, but usually only in the immediate vicinity of the mother plant. If you want to multiply the sweet umbel yourself, you can harvest the ripe fruits of the plant in autumn. Ripe fruits can be recognized by their almost black colour. Remove the seeds from the split fruit and sow them in autumn, either directly outdoors or in pots. Low temperatures are important for the cold germs. These trigger signal chains inside the seed that lead to the germination of the seed in spring. For this reason, seeds that have been planted in pots should also be overwintered outside. It is best to use potting soil or mix sand into the substrate so that the seedlings develop strong roots. In winter you should keep the seedbed rather dry, but water it carefully in spring when temperatures rise.
Harvesting and use of the sweet umbel
Whether roots, flowers or leaves, all parts of the sweet umbel are used in the kitchen. It tastes like anise or liquorice and can be used in many ways. The leaves and roots can be harvested all year round, the flowers from May to July and the seeds in August. The roots are usually chopped and boiled and can be used in a similar way to parsnips. Young, fresh leaves of the sweet umbel can be added to salads or chopped up in sauces. The stalk is particularly sweet and can be used as a sweetener. A sweet cone tea is also often prepared from the fresh leaves. The flowers go well with sweet dishes and the seeds can also be used as a spice and refine bread, for example. Since all parts of the plant can be very flavorful, you should first dose carefully. The sweet umbel contains essential oils and is said to stimulate the appetite, but also has an expectorant and antioxidant effect.
Tip: Immature seeds that are still green taste sweet and can be nibbled straight away.
Is the sweet umbel poisonous? The sweet umbel is not poisonous. However, it can easily be confused with other poisonous umbellifers.
The chervil also looks confusingly similar to the sweet umbel. However, there is no danger here, because chervil is not poisonous. We show how to plant, care for and use it.