Angelica archangelica
Garden angelica, herb of the angels, herb of the Holy Spirit, root of the Holy Spirit: its name comes from a medieval legend according to which the archangel Gabriel revealed it to humans during an epidemic. Its immense green-and-white umbels, carried more than 2 metres high, make it one of the most imposing aromatic plants in the garden.
Characteristics:
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Monumental silhouette: more than 2 metres tall, with large, highly architectural spherical green-and-white umbels.
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Entirely aromatic: stems, leaves, roots and seeds all release the same powerful, sweet fragrance.
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Biennial to triennial: native to Northern Europe and Siberia, it flowers in its second or third year, then dies after producing seeds.
Precautions:
- Its sap is photosensitising: on contact with the skin followed by exposure to sunlight, it can cause redness and blisters. Wear gloves and long sleeves when harvesting or pruning it, preferably in overcast weather.
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Beware of confusion: like all large umbellifers, angelica resembles dangerous wild species, particularly hemlock. Only harvest plants that you have sown yourself and can identify with certainty—never gather umbellifers from the wild.
Sowing advice:
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Exposure: full sun to partial shade; it appreciates cool partial shade in hot regions.
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Soil: fertile, deep, humus-rich and, above all, consistently moist—it is a plant of riverbanks and the damp woodlands of the north. It dislikes dry, scorching soils. Adding compost and a thick mulch genuinely benefits it.
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Method: its seeds quickly lose their germination capacity: sow them fresh, between July and September, on the surface because they need light to germinate. Winter cold naturally breaks their dormancy; otherwise, apply cold stratification.
Planting advice:
- Allow plenty of space: a mature plant easily occupies 1 metre in diameter. Place it at the back of a border or beside a pond or other water feature.
Care advice:
- Keep the soil moist with watering and mulching. Staking may be useful to support its tall stems in exposed, windy locations.
- Tip: cut the flower stalks before flowering to extend the plant's life by several years—otherwise it dies after producing seeds.
Harvesting advice:
- Harvest the young, tender stems in spring of the second year, before flowering: these are the stems used for candying. Pick the leaves as needed.
Beneficial combinations:
- It shares the moisture requirements of marsh mallow and common valerian, with which it creates a beautiful border of tall, moisture-loving perennials.
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Its immense flat umbels are genuine landing platforms for short-tongued insects: hoverflies, beetles and beneficial micro-hymenopterans gather there by the hundreds.
- Like all umbellifers, it is a host plant for swallowtail caterpillars.
- Its seeds feed granivorous birds in autumn.
Uses:
- Its candied stems flavour loaf cakes, pastries and confectionery—it is the green angelica used by pastry makers, a speciality of Niort. Its seeds have traditionally been used to flavour certain liqueurs.
- A historic medicinal plant of monastery gardens. See our medicinal plants to sow.
Symbolism:
Considered a gift from the angels in the Middle Ages, angelica was grown in monastery gardens and reputed to protect against all ailments. Its very name preserves this history.
Harvesting your own seeds:
Let one umbel ripen fully and harvest the seeds as soon as they turn brown. Sow them immediately: their germination capacity declines very quickly, within just a few months. Angelica also readily self-seeds. See saving your seeds.
Our commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for all living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose open-pollinated, non-hybrid varieties, test them for their germination rate, and carefully sort and package them without any chemical treatment. Our conviction: to give gardeners back the ability to resow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
Add a touch of grandeur and fragrance to your garden with these garden angelica seeds.
