Show #20/5207. Meise Botanical Garden

Jeroen Talks About Aloysia citriodora And Cynara cardunculus

Eric would like to know about some of the PLANTS that Jeroen finds particularly interesting. First would be Aloysia citriodora. It's a very interesting plant, the smell of this flower is like lemon. They produce very small, white flowers from June through August. A very important use of this plant is that you can use the leaves of the plant to make tea. Interesting. What are some of the other plants that throughout the course of the year are exciting? Cynara cardunculus is a very important plant in this garden. It is from the sunflower family and one can eat the stems of the plant. They have a similar taste as an artichoke but it's a little bit bitter. There's a trick to make the stems of the cardunculus sweeter. In early spring you put a terra cotta pot over the plant. Since it's dark under the terra cotta pot you get bleached stems and they taste sweeter. So it's like white asparagus. Although tasty it can be a somewhat invasive plant, so keep that in mind.