Days to Maturity: 95 from direct sow
An essential herb for Asian cuisine, the leaves and stems of lemongrass can be used fresh or dried to impart a distinct lemon flavor. Lemongrass also makes a wonderful ingredient for hot teas, and is attractive enough to grow simply as an ornamental in patio pots or in the sunny garden.
This clump-forming perennial resembles an ornamental grass with its aromatic cane-like stems arising from a central base. The lemon-scented, linear, strap leaves reach 3 feet long, falling over at the tip. It is a honeybee magnet, and a useful addition to any garden friendly to butterflies, bees, and other wildlife.
Lemongrass thrives in moist soil and full sun, growing 3 to 5 feet tall within a single season. The seed germinates in 7 to 14 days, and the plant reaches a good size for picking about 3 months later. If you begin the seeds indoors, transplant the young plants at about 6 inches high.
Lemongrass is hardy only in zones 8-11, so if you live north of its range, you may want to grow it in containers, where it can be brought to a bright, frost-free location for winter. Quite long-lived, it will fulfill all your culinary needs for many seasons!
Heirloom Seeds are open-pollinated -- they are not hybrids. You can gather and save heirloom seed from year to year and they will grow true to type every year, so they can be passed down through generations. To be considered an heirloom, a variety would have to be at least from the 1940's and 3 generations old (many varieties are much older -- some 100 years or more!).
Hybrid seed are the product of cross-pollination between 2 different parent plants, resulting in a new plant/seed that is different from the parents. Unlike Heirloom seed, hybrid seed need to be re-purchased new every year (and not saved). They usually will not grow true to type if you save them, but will revert to one of the parents they were crossed with and most likely look/taste different in some way.
Days to Maturity: 95 from direct sow
An essential herb for Asian cuisine, the leaves and stems of lemongrass can be used fresh or dried to impart a distinct lemon flavor. Lemongrass also makes a wonderful ingredient for hot teas, and is attractive enough to grow simply as an ornamental in patio pots or in the sunny garden.
This clump-forming perennial resembles an ornamental grass with its aromatic cane-like stems arising from a central base. The lemon-scented, linear, strap leaves reach 3 feet long, falling over at the tip. It is a honeybee magnet, and a useful addition to any garden friendly to butterflies, bees, and other wildlife.
Lemongrass thrives in moist soil and full sun, growing 3 to 5 feet tall within a single season. The seed germinates in 7 to 14 days, and the plant reaches a good size for picking about 3 months later. If you begin the seeds indoors, transplant the young plants at about 6 inches high.
Lemongrass is hardy only in zones 8-11, so if you live north of its range, you may want to grow it in containers, where it can be brought to a bright, frost-free location for winter. Quite long-lived, it will fulfill all your culinary needs for many seasons!
Heirloom Seeds are open-pollinated -- they are not hybrids. You can gather and save heirloom seed from year to year and they will grow true to type every year, so they can be passed down through generations. To be considered an heirloom, a variety would have to be at least from the 1940's and 3 generations old (many varieties are much older -- some 100 years or more!).
Hybrid seed are the product of cross-pollination between 2 different parent plants, resulting in a new plant/seed that is different from the parents. Unlike Heirloom seed, hybrid seed need to be re-purchased new every year (and not saved). They usually will not grow true to type if you save them, but will revert to one of the parents they were crossed with and most likely look/taste different in some way.