Every year I plant a seedling of Tarragon in my herb garden. It is not hardy so once it dies off in autumn I harvest and dry the leaves and then pull the plant and buy a seedling next spring.
If you have never tasted French Tarragon (there is also a Russian Tarragon which is no where near as nice as the French) then I would highly recommend you try it. My favourite thing to make with it is a cream sauce to serve with either chicken breasts or a good steak. I just stir cream into the cooking juices in the pan I have fried the meat in, add fresh or dried tarragon leaves and let it thicken - then pour it over the meat to serve - it is very decadent, probably fattening but oh so yummy.
The flavour of tarragon also goes well with fish, particularly salmon, eggs, pasta and more.
Anyway back to my surprise. Last year, instead of planting my tarragon directly into the herb garden I put it in a pot. I never got around to pulling it out and today I was weeding the herb garden and trimming some foliage back when I realised my Tarragon has made a reappearance in it's pot again this spring - first time ever!
I think it must have been sheltered by the overhanging leaves of the rosemary and lemon geranium and so has survived the cold. It may seem a little OTT but this is super-exciting for me and saves me spending money on another seedling!
In this photo you can see the tarragon centre stage in it's pot. Also in this part of the herb garden I have upright rosemary top right, just below that lemon sorrel, chives, winter savory, curly parsley and lemon geranium.
Hidden from view is my new lemon grass and hyssop. You can see sage in the other part of the garden and our kaffir lime and lemon verbena. The other herbs I grow in my herb garden are several varieties of thyme, marjoram, oregano, veitnamese mint and curry plant.
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