Medicinal and Wellness Plant Seeds

"Medicinal plant seeds" is a category name, the same way "culinary herbs" is. What arrives is seed, not powder, dried leaf or extract. The ashwagandha listing (Withania somnifera) spells it out: 20 seeds, sown by you. No cannabis seed on this shelf, that sits in a different part of the shop.

Annuals You Sow Once, Perennials That Outlive the Shed

Our medicinal seed range at a glance

Twenty-nine packets, sorted by lifespan. Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) returns on its own, German winter thyme (Thymus vulgaris) goes bushy and lasts years, and St John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) shrugs off drought and a waterlogged spring. The one season plants: white mustard sown in March and ready by summer, summer savory, cumin, and corn poppy 'Single Red' (Papaver rhoeas) flowering June to September. Elsewhere in Europe: Wellness plantefrø, Wellness-Pflanzensamen, Wellness Plantzaden, Växtfrön för välmående.

Adaptogens and tonics

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is the packet most people arrive for: roughly six months from sowing to seed, an autumn harvest. Klip Dagga (Leonotis nepetifolia) is the other warm climate name, sown into indoor trays at the end of April.

Wild and traditional herbs

Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) is the bitter, drought tolerant one used to flavour alcoholic drinks; mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) is milder, hardier and takes acidic through to slightly alkaline soil. Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis), thyme and St John's wort fill out the long lived end of the range.

Edible roots and greens

Chicory (Cichorium intybus) sends down a taproot to dry, roast and grind as a coffee stand-in; dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) grows almost anywhere. Sage (Salvia officinalis) earns its keep in cooking and herbal teas, sorrel wants a regular trim, and mallow (Malva sylvestris) sown in April flowers by September. Asparagus 'Argenteuil' (Asparagus officinalis) is the long game: about 3 weeks to come up, a year in a nursery bed, then crowns into trenches.

Sowing Depth, Timing, and the Frost Question

Wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa), identified by its milky latex, breaks the rules: sow it straight outdoors, cover very loosely and leave it cold. It germinates in 10 to 20 days and comes up in frosty soil, while warm soil can stop it dead.

Sowing indoors and hardening off

Lovage starts indoors in spring and goes out once it has two sets of leaves and the last frost has passed. Cumin needs about 4 weeks before the last frost and temperatures above 15°C before it sees the garden. Harden trays off outside over a week first. Hard coated seed takes a soak or light scarification, hardy perennial seed a cold spell (stratification).

Soil, light and watering

Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) takes full sun or half-shade and almost any soil: outdoor seedbed in April or May, pricked out in June, final spot in autumn. Wormwood prefers it dry, and most of the shelf wants sun and free draining ground.

The Four That Will Colonise Your Border

Mugwort, tansy, dandelion and chicory all spread and self-seed with very little help. If your beds are tidy, give them a corner or a large pot.

Picking Leaf, Flower, or Seed, Then Drying It

Cut sage back regularly and it keeps pushing out new growth; the fresh leaves taste best. Wild lettuce gives leaves from spring through autumn, then turns bitter as winter comes in, and cumin is roughly 120 days to seed. Crush a lemon-scented gum leaf (Eucalyptus citriodora) and the citronella scent lingers. Hang small bunches upside down somewhere dark and airy, then store dry leaf in sealed jars. Rue (Ruta graveolens) is not sold or described here as something to eat or brew, it is not an edible plant, and anyone pregnant should leave it alone. Its fresh leaves can burn skin in sunlight, so wear gloves when cutting it. In a British garden we'd take sage over cumin: sage lasts years, cumin wants a long, hot season we rarely get.