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ISSUE 2178 Saturday 12 May 2001

In focus: Angelica

Val Bourne on a fashionable plant

PLANTS mirror fashion. When demure Victorian women, trussed up in tight corsets, raved about flowers, their choices were equally restrained - lily of the valley and the sweet violet. Nowadays we're more outspoken: we love plants with attitude and stature.

Angelica, a member of the cow parsley family, suits perfectly. The gargantuan biennial Angelica archangelica is no longer tucked away in a corner of the kitchen garden. In this uninhibited, freer age - when we no longer serry our plants strictly according to height - angelica stands proud at the front of the border.

There are several theories about how angelica got its name. One holds that it was from the Archangel Raphael who, according to medieval legend, revealed the plant's virtues. Another says that angelica is always in flower by May 8 - alas, not this wet, cold spring - the feast of St Michael the Archangel.

Its medicinal and magical properties are many: it is an aphrodisiac, an antidote to poisons, a specific against the plague and a protection against witches. The candied stems and roots are used in various culinary ways - including giving the characteristic flavour to Benedictine.

All angelicas - there are between 50 and 70, many imported from Russia, Korea and North America - thrive in moist, fertile soil. They are found in the wild along stream beds in northern temperate regions - which is where the British native, A. sylvestris, is happiest.

Many appear biennial, making a rosette in the first year and flowering in the second. Angelicas produce copious amounts of seed, which is only viable for a short time.

The most commonly grown form is garden angelica, A. archangelica, which has a knock-out combination of parsley-fragranced dark leaves and paler-green hollow stems, reaching 6ft in height. The leaves and flower heads emerge from paper-pleated lime-green sheaths (the petioles) and unfold into spectacular tea-plate size umbels, which attract hoverflies in swarms. This cool green, fantasia always coincides with that moment of greenness when spring eases into summer.

Modern-day plant hunters, like Bleddyn Wynn-Jones of Crug Farm, regularly visit Korea, China and Japan to collect perennial varieties. Several exciting angelicas have been introduced in the past 10 years, many having deep wine-red leaves and sheaths. These still need moist soil, but will not perform in a cold spot. They need warmer, sheltered conditions and, even then, flower later in the year.

One of these relatively new introductions, Korean angelica, A. gigas, is now widely available. Grown commercially in Korea as an aphrodisiac, it has hundreds of sturdy beetroot-red stems, huge sheaths and shiny dark leaves reaching more than 6ft. Though said to turn yellow in limey soils, I've grown it in my Cotswold garden with no problems. The heads on A. gigas are dome shaped and this high-gloss plant can survive longer than two years.

There is also a purple form of our British native A. sylvestris 'Purpurea', which makes a handsome garden plant with its purple leaves and grey-pink flowers. Do not confuse it with the American angelica, A. atropurpurea. The green-leaved A. pachycarpa from Portugal and north-west Spain is shorter (reaching 3ft) and has greenish-white flowers in late summer.

The specialist nurseries willing to grow from seed, rather than divide plants, have a wealth of different angelicas. Beeches Nursery near Saffron Walden has several Russian and North American species. Among its range of at least 12, it grows a 14ft monster, A.ursina, with real form and stature.

Growing tips Angelicas can't be divided and are usually short-lived.

Seed must be sown when really fresh.

Commercially packeted seed has often lost its viability.

It is best to buy it young and plant it where the soil is moist. After it has flowered, collect your own seed.

Sow the large seeds immediately, placing them on their edge to prevent them from rotting. Place outside in a cold frame, or against a wall. Angelicas need a cold spell and the seed will germinate by next spring.

Seedlings should be pricked out into individual pots when they are young. Once the plant has filled the pot, carefully plant the angelica outside, taking care not to break the tap root.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2001