Herb · Asteraceae
French Tarragon
Artemisia dracunculus
Get the sun and drainage right, and French tarragon will keep handing you warm anise flavor all summer long.
Full sun
Every 5–10 days
USDA 4–8
24–35 in · 60–90 cm
Overview
So what's the fuss about French tarragon? It's that clean, warm anise flavor, the kind no other herb really pulls off. It's related to daisies and sagebrush, and it grows as a hardy perennial, so it dies back every winter and then sends up fresh shoots come spring. Get one good plant going and it'll feed the kitchen for years.
Here's the thing to know before shopping, though. The real French herb is a sterile clone, which means it doesn't set any viable seed. So you can't sow it, you've got to buy a plant or grab a piece of someone else's. Anything labeled tarragon seed? That's the Russian kind, and while it grows fast and big, it barely tastes of anything. Pick up the real one just once, and you can keep dividing it for free after that.
If tarragon's picky about anything, it's wet roots. It likes full sun, lean soil, and really sharp drainage, and it'll sulk or rot in heavy, soggy ground. But once the drainage is sorted, the rest is pretty relaxed, just a little water, hardly any feeding, and a quick trim before winter.
Care
The short version: give it full sun and lean, quick-draining soil, and only water once the top half's dried out. Go easy on the feeding or skip it, snip the shoot tips all summer, and split the clump every few years so the flavor stays strong.
Light
Tarragon really wants full sun if you're after the boldest flavor, though it'll cope with a bit of afternoon shade. Give it too much shade, though, and the growth thins out and the taste fades, which kind of defeats the point.
Water
Let the top half of the soil dry out before you water again, rather than keeping things damp. Tarragon hates soggy roots, and honestly the quickest way to lose it is overwatering in winter, which just rots the roots.
Soil
Plant it in light, sandy, well-drained loam, because good drainage matters way more to this herb than rich soil does. A pH somewhere between 6.0 to 7.5 is fine, and the only thing it won't put up with is heavy, soggy ground.
Temperature
Tarragon's a tough one, handling cold down to about -20°F (-29°C) and heat up to roughly 84°F (29°C). And here's the nice part, it actually needs that cold winter rest to do well, so the dormancy isn't something to worry about.
Humidity
Keep it on the dry side, around 30% to 50% humidity, and give it a bit of breathing room. Damp, still air is what brings on the mildew and rust that spot up the leaves.
Feeding
This one's a light feeder, so there's no need to overdo it. A single spring helping of balanced fertilizer or compost does the trick, and loading on nitrogen just grows soft leaves that taste of less.
Pruning
Pinch and pick the shoot tips as you go through the season, and the plant stays nice and bushy instead of getting leggy. Come late summer, cut the stems back and clear off the dead top growth before it heads into winter.
Repotting
If it's in a pot, refresh it every 2 to 3 years before the crown turns woody and crowded. When the flavor drops off, the new shoots slow down, and the center goes hard, that's the plant asking for fresh soil or a split.
Size & spacing
A grown plant gets about 24 to 35 inches (60 to 90 cm) tall and spreads 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 cm) wide, so plan for that. Give each one that much space and the air can move through, keeping the leaves dry.
When to plant
Tarragon's hardy from zones 4 through 8, and it pretty much lives by the seasons. Pop divisions or rooted cuttings in the ground in spring once the last frost's gone, pick leaves all through summer, and then just let it go dormant over winter. That cold rest? It's exactly what brings the plant back strong the next year.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: Spring, after the last frost, from divisions or rooted stem cuttings
- Harvest: Rarely flowers and sets no viable seed; harvest leaves through summer. Benefits from a period of winter dormancy and chilling to perform well the following season.
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 4–8
Temperature: down to -34°C
Troubleshooting
Most tarragon hiccups come from one of two spots, either wet roots down below or not enough air moving through the leaves. Keep an eye on both and you'll dodge almost everything. Spot your symptom below, and step in before it gets worse.
Wilting plant sitting on black, mushy roots and a rotted crown
What you're looking at is root and crown rot, and it nearly always comes down to soil that's just too wet. Tarragon can't stand soggy roots, especially over winter, so lift a struggling plant and check for brown, smelly roots. If the rot's really set in, toss the worst of it and replant the healthy divisions in raised, sandy ground that drains fast.
Fix:
- Improve drainage and reduce watering
- Remove and discard severely rotted plants
- Replant healthy divisions in raised or sandy, well-drained beds
Yellow, stippled leaves with powdery spots or tiny bugs
When plants get crowded and humid, they're easy targets for downy mildew or rust, which leave pale or rust-colored patches, while aphids pile onto the soft new growth and twist the leaves. Not sure which? Flip the leaves over and check the undersides. Then open the plant up for airflow, pull off the worst foliage, and rinse or treat whatever aphids turn up.
Fix:
- Improve air circulation and spacing
- Remove and destroy infected foliage
- Rinse off or treat aphids as needed
An old clump gone woody, thin, and kind of flavorless
After three or four years, a tarragon plant basically runs out of steam, building a hollow, woody center that barely puts out fresh growth and tastes flat. That's just age, not a disease. Dig the clump in early spring, replant the lively outer pieces, and chuck the tired middle.
Fix:
- Divide the clump in early spring
- Replant vigorous outer divisions
- Discard the spent woody center
Toxicity
Good news if you've got pets around: tarragon's a kitchen herb, safe to eat and easy to have in the house. Cook with it all you like, and don't worry, it won't poison your animals. The only catch is that a big helping of those strongly scented leaves might give a cat, dog, or other animal a passing stomachache, so it's really just a mild caution for pets, not a danger.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Mild
One little nibble won't hurt, but if a cat gets through a good mouthful of those aromatic leaves, it might drool a bit or have a quick upset stomach.
Dogs Mild
It's not a poisoning risk, though a dog that wolfs down a big helping of the strong-smelling leaves could end up with loose stools or a little nausea that passes soon enough.
Horses Mild
A small taste is no big deal. Eat a lot of the leaves, though, and a horse might get some mild digestive upset for a little while.
Rabbits Mild
Stick to the odd sprig here, because those pungent oils can upset a rabbit's sensitive gut once it eats more than a small taste.
Livestock Mild
Grazing animals usually walk right past the strong-smelling plant anyway, and a casual mouthful won't cause anything worse than a passing stomachache.
Birds Mild
A few leaves won't bother a backyard bird, but with all those concentrated aromatic oils, it's better as a rare treat than a regular feed.
People Safe
For people, tarragon's a kitchen staple and totally safe to eat in the amounts a recipe calls for. Its estragole only matters in very large medicinal doses, way more than you'd ever use cooking.
No special handling precautions are needed for the intact plant; use the leaves as a culinary herb.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
United Kingdom
Animal PoisonLine: 01202 509000 (fee applies)
Australia
Animal Poisons Helpline: 1300 869 738
Varieties
There are only two tarragons you're likely to run into, and which one you get decides whether you're growing flavor or just leaves. So do a quick check on which one you're buying before it goes in the ground.
French tarragon ('Sativa' clone)
This is the real culinary tarragon, a sterile clone with a strong anise flavor that you've got to grow from divisions or cuttings since it never sets viable seed.
Russian tarragon (Artemisia dracunculoides)
It grows easily from seed but comes out coarser, bigger, and almost tasteless, which is why it keeps showing up in seed packets and then lets you down in the kitchen.
How to propagate
Since true French tarragon never makes seed, you grow more of it the same way the nurseries do, by splitting a plant or rooting a cutting. Either way, the flavor stays true.
DivisionEasy
Early spring as growth resumes, or early fall · 4 to 8 weeks
Division's the most reliable way to make more of that true French clone. Lift an established plant in early spring as growth picks up, or in early fall, split off the strong outer sections, and replant them, doing this every 3 to 4 years to keep the clump young. Give the new divisions a little time and they'll settle in within 4 to 8 weeks.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Late spring to early summer from softwood growth · 4 to 6 weeks
Take cuttings from non-flowering softwood shoots in late spring or early summer, and root them in a sharp, well-drained mix, where they'll get going in about 4 to 6 weeks. This keeps that prized French flavor true, since only the lesser Russian tarragon comes from seed.
Myths
You can grow real French tarragon straight from seed.
Not really, and here's why: true French tarragon is a sterile clone that sets no viable seed, so the only way to hang onto its flavor is to divide a plant or root a cutting. Anything sold as tarragon seed is the inferior, nearly flavorless Russian type, not the actual culinary herb.