Herb · Apiaceae
Anise
Pimpinella anisum
Sow it once, leave that taproot undisturbed, and anise pays you back with fragrant seed after a long warm summer.
Full sun
Every 3–7 days
50–86°F · 10–30°C
100–120 days
Overview
Anise is where that warm, licorice-sweet flavor comes from in things like bread and liqueurs, and it grows as a soft annual in the carrot family, right next to its cousins dill and fennel. It started out around the eastern Mediterranean and the Levant, where those long, warm seasons suit it just fine. Mostly you're growing it for the seed, the aniseed you keep in the spice rack, but the lacy young leaves are good in the kitchen too.
It stays on the small side, topping out at 18 to 24 inches (45 to 60 cm), with feathery lower leaves and flat white flower heads that pop up in mid-summer. Once the flowers fade, the seed forms and slowly dries to a gray-brown, and that's your sign to harvest. Brush past it and you'll catch that anise smell right away.
Here's the one thing to keep in mind: anise really doesn't like being moved. It sends down a taproot that resents disturbance, so you sow it where it'll stay and just leave it be. Give it sun, warmth, and a long enough season, and honestly? It pretty much takes care of itself.
Care
The short version: full sun, light well-drained soil, and steady moisture while it's getting going. Sow the seed straight in the ground after frost, feed it lightly, and give it a long warm season to ripen the seed.
Light
Anise wants full sun, and the more it gets, the happier it is. A bright, open spot helps the seed ripen and keeps the soft stems from stretching, while shade just leaves you with weak plants and a thin crop.
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist while the seed's germinating and through any dry spell. Once it's settled in, it can handle short dry patches, but standing water will rot the roots, so let that well-drained soil do its thing.
Soil
Go with light, well-drained loam and mix in some compost. A pH between 6.0 and 7.0 is what it likes, on the neutral side, and loose ground gives that taproot room to head straight down.
Temperature
Anise is happy across 50°F to 86°F (10°C to 30°C) and leans warm. It needs a good long stretch of mild weather to ripen the seed, so cold, short summers tend to leave the crop green and unfinished.
Humidity
Regular outdoor humidity around 40% to 60% is plenty, and it's really not a number worth stressing over. Airflow matters way more, since crowded, damp foliage is exactly what aphids and rot are looking for.
Feeding
Anise is a light feeder, so just work in some compost or a balanced fertilizer once before sowing and call it done. Too much nitrogen grows soft, floppy stems that flop over as the seed heads fill out.
Pruning
There's not much to do, really. Pinch young plants once to make them bushier, but never transplant them, since that taproot hates the disturbance. And leave the flower heads alone so the seed can ripen.
Repotting
Anise isn't a pot plant. It's direct-sown as an annual and grows in the ground, so there's no repotting and no roots to coil up. Just sow it in its final spot and let it finish out the season there.
Size & spacing
Plants reach 18 to 24 inches (45 to 60 cm) tall with a slim spread of 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm). Give each one that much room, or sow them in a tight block so the stems can lean on each other for support.
When to plant
Anise wants warmth and a good long run to ripen, so it doesn't go out until the last frost's gone and the soil's warmed up. Sow it in place in late spring, keep an eye out for white flower heads in mid-summer, and grab the seed once it dries to gray-brown in late summer or fall.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: Generally avoided; the taproot resents transplanting, so direct sowing is preferred
- Plant: After the last frost once soil is warm (about 60°F); needs roughly 120 frost-free days to ripen seed
- Harvest: White flower umbels appear in mid-summer; harvest seed when ripe and gray-brown in late summer to fall
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 4–11
Temperature: down to -34°C
Troubleshooting
Anise hardly ever runs into anything serious, but a couple of things can trip it up. Most of them show on the foliage or the seed heads, and most come back to a season that's too short or soil that's too rich. Find what matches below, and step in early.
Seed still green and soft when the cold rolls in
Anise really wants a long, warm stretch to finish its seed, so a short or cool season leaves the heads soft and green. The fix? Get it in the ground as early as you safely can after frost, and pick the warmest, sunniest spot around. And if summer turns chilly, a row cover hands back some of that lost warmth.
Fix:
- Plant as early as safely possible after last frost
- Grow in the warmest, sunniest available site
- Use row covers to extend warmth
Sticky leaves with tiny bugs all over them
Those little clusters? They're aphids, and that sticky shine is the honeydew they leave behind. Flip a few leaves over, because that's where they like to hide, and then just hose them off with a sharp blast of water. If they keep showing up, insecticidal soap does the trick, and going easier on the nitrogen helps too.
Fix:
- Dislodge with a strong jet of water
- Apply insecticidal soap if needed
Stems flopping over as the seed heads get heavy
That's lodging, and it happens when those top-heavy umbels catch a gust and tip over. Rich soil and crowding don't help, since they grow soft, leggy stems that give way easily. A few short stakes will prop them back up, or you can sow them close together so they lean on each other.
Fix:
- Provide light staking or grow in blocks for mutual support
Toxicity
Here's the easy part: anise is a kitchen herb, and it's safe around pets, livestock, and people. It's not on the ASPCA's toxic list, and the seed actually gets used to lure and reward dogs in training. The only thing to watch is the concentrated essential oil, so keep that up out of reach. And just so it's clear, this is true anise, not the unrelated star anise.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats Safe
Good news for cat folks: the ASPCA doesn't list anise as toxic to cats. A nibble of the feathery leaves won't hurt a bit, though if a cat really goes to town on any new green, it might end up with a slightly grumpy stomach.
Dogs Safe
Dogs are totally fine with anise, and here's a fun one: trainers use the seed as a scent reward. So if a dog decides to chew on the plant, there's nothing to worry about.
Horses Safe
Horses can hang out and graze right by anise, no problem. It just doesn't carry the toxins that make some other garden plants a headache around livestock.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits can nibble the lacy leaves without any issue. Like with any treat, though, keep it on the small side and serve it alongside their usual hay and greens.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep are all fine around anise, and believe it or not, the herb's been used as fodder and a milk flavoring for ages.
Birds Safe
The seed and foliage won't bother birds at all, and plenty of them will happily peck away at the ripe anise heads out in the garden.
People Safe
Anise is a kitchen herb start to finish. People eat the leaves and seed in all sorts of things, from bread to liqueurs, and it's really only the concentrated essential oil that asks for a careful hand.
Foliage and seed are non-toxic, but concentrated anise essential oil should still be kept away from pets.
Varieties
Honestly, there's not much to choose from here. Anise is grown almost entirely as the plain species, so really the main job is just making sure you've got the right plant.
Common anise (species type)
There's barely anything to pick from, so almost everyone grows the plain unimproved species, and the one thing to get right is not mixing it up with the unrelated star anise.
How to propagate
Anise comes from seed, and only seed, and you've got to sow it right where it'll grow. The trick is timing it for the warm soil it needs and not giving in to the urge to move the seedlings around.
SeedModerate
Direct sow after the last frost once soil has warmed · Germinates in about 1 to 2 weeks; reaches seed maturity in roughly 100 to 120 days
Anise only grows from seed, and you've got to sow it right where it'll stay, because that taproot won't put up with being moved. Wait for the frost to pass and the soil to warm up, drop the seed in, and you'll see sprouts in 1 to 2 weeks. Want them up faster? Soak the seed overnight first. From there it takes 100 to 120 days to ripen a batch of seed, so an early start really pays off.
Myths
Anise and star anise are just the same spice.
They taste alike, sure, and that's down to a shared compound called anethole, but that's where it ends. True anise is Pimpinella anisum in the carrot family, a soft annual herb, while star anise is Illicium verum, a woody tree from a totally different family. You can't swap one for the other.
Anise transplants as easily as your other herbs.
Not quite, because anise grows a deep taproot that hates getting moved, and a disturbed seedling tends to sulk or just die. So sow the seed right where the plant's going to stay instead of starting it in cells and shifting it later.