What it is
French Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) is in the Asteraceae (Daisy) family. The anise-scented backbone of French cooking. True French tarragon is grown from divisions, not seed.
How to grow it
It wants full sun, water it low to moderate, and give it lean, well-drained soil. Target a soil pH around 6.5–7.5. Space plants about 18 in apart. Expect roughly Cut as needed. Tender perennial.
How it's used
French Tarragon is used: fresh, vinegar, sauces.
🔎 How to identify it
- Narrow glossy leaves
- Sprawling habit
- Faint anise scent
Edibility
How to grow & propagate french tarragon
Everything I've worked out about starting this one, keeping it alive through a Texas year, and turning one plant into many — free.
How to propagate french tarragon
The daisy family is a seed family — those flower heads are seed factories, and most members come up fast and willing from direct sowing. The perennial members (coneflower, black-eyed Susan, the native sunflowers) also clump up over a few years and can be lifted and split in fall or early spring to make free plants and keep the center from dying out.
Growing french tarragon in Texas
Give it full sun and lean, well-drained soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.
Because it's a perennial, the work is mostly up front. Get it sited and established and it comes back on its own year after year — one of the best returns on effort in the whole garden.
In a container it'll dry faster than in the ground, so check the top inch of soil daily in summer; pots on a hot Texas patio can need water every single day.
Harvesting
Figure on roughly cut as needed before you're harvesting. Pick herbs in the morning after the dew dries for the strongest oils, and harvest little and often — regular cutting keeps a herb bushy and stops it bolting. The part you're after: leaves.
Making more for free
Every seed we sell is open-pollinated, which means you can save your own from the best plants and it'll grow true next year. Let a few of your strongest plants finish and go to seed, dry it fully, and store it cool and dark. That's the whole point of heirlooms — buy once, grow forever.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.