Salad Burnet

Salad Burnet is a charming, native British perennial herb that was once a common ingredient in salads and is now enjoying a revival. It forms an attractive low-growing rosette of delicate, fern-like, pinnate leaves with neatly toothed edges. The foliage has a very distinct and refreshing flavour and scent of cucumber, making it a wonderful addition to salads, vinegars, and summer drinks like Pimm's. One of its greatest assets is its ability to provide fresh leaves almost year-round, even through a typical British winter. In early summer, it produces unusual, globose, greenish-pink flower heads on tall, slender stems; these are interesting but are often removed to encourage further leaf growth. It is an exceptionally easy plant to grow, being very drought-tolerant and thriving in poor, alkaline or chalky soils in a sunny position. It maintains its neat, clumping habit and does not become invasive, making it an ideal choice for the edge of an ornamental herb bed.

Sun: Full sun to partial shade.

Soil: Well-drained, neutral to alkaline soil.

Hardiness: H6/H7.

Flowering: May, Jun, Jul.