Origin
Mediterranean
Light
Full sun
Watering
Weekly
Care
Moderate
Flowering
Flowering
Edible & Fruit
Céleri
Pale, crisp stalks won through water and shade — the domesticated version of a bitter marsh plant.
Care Profile
A guide to ensuring your botanical companion thrives.
Origin
Mediterranean
Light
Moderate
Watering
Twice a week
Maintenance
Moderate
From salt-marsh herb to vegetable
The wild ancestor grows in the brackish wetlands of the Mediterranean: its stems are thin, hollow and so bitter that it was cultivated only as a medicinal plant.
Centuries of selection thickened the stalks and softened the bitterness; growers then added blanching, earthing up or wrapping the plants to keep light off the stems.
"A remedy turned into a vegetable."
01
Styling Tip 01
Water, and plenty
This is a wetland crop: the slightest drought stress makes the stalks stringy and hollow.
02
Styling Tip 02
Blanch three weeks before harvest
Wrap the plants in card or earth them up: the stalks turn pale, tender and markedly less bitter.
03
Styling Tip 03
Rich, moist soil
Plenty of compost and a thick mulch: it is a heavy nitrogen feeder and fears dry ground.
Similar plants
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Origin
Mediterranean
Light
Full sun
Watering
Rarely
Care
Easy
Flowering
Flowering