Key Features
- Leaf celery variety grown for its flavorful stems, leaves, and aromatic foliage
- Produces bright green, finely divided celery-like leaves with slender stalks
- Compact growth makes it suitable for herb gardens, vegetable beds, and containers
- Adds fresh flavor to soups, salads, stocks, sauces, and savory dishes
- A traditional celery type valued for its strong aroma and versatile culinary use
Growing Benefits
- Enjoy fresh celery flavor directly from your home garden
- Excellent choice for gardeners interested in traditional vegetable varieties
- Compact plants can fit comfortably into smaller garden spaces
- Fresh leaves can be harvested gradually as needed
- Useful culinary herb for everyday cooking and homemade recipes
Seed Specifications
- Common Name: Smallage, Leaf Celery, Cutting Celery
- Botanical Name: Apium graveolens var. secalinum
- Plant Type: Biennial herbaceous vegetable
- Colors: Green foliage and slender green stems
- Height: Typically about one to two feet
- Sunlight: Full sun to partial shade
- Soil: Rich, fertile, moisture-retentive, well-drained soil
- Water: Keep soil consistently moist without prolonged waterlogging
- Germination Time: Approximately two to three weeks
- Sowing Depth: Surface sow or cover very lightly with fine soil
- Spacing: Thin or transplant plants several inches apart
- Growing Zones: Generally suitable across a broad range when grown during favorable cool-season conditions
- Flowering/Maturity: Typically grown for foliage during its first season; flowering may occur in the following season
- Uses: Culinary herbs, soups, stocks, salads, sauces, container gardens, and vegetable beds
Growing Tips
- Keep the seed-starting medium consistently moist because small celery seeds dry out easily.
- Provide bright light and cool growing conditions for strong, healthy seedlings.
- Thin crowded seedlings carefully once they develop several true leaves.
- Harvest outer leaves and stems gradually while allowing the plant to continue producing foliage.
Seed Storage
Store unused seeds in a cool, dry, dark location away from heat and moisture. Keep them in a sealed, labeled seed packet or airtight container. Avoid storing seeds in humid areas or places exposed to frequent temperature changes.
Unique Facts About Seeds
- Smallage is an older form of celery that is especially valued for its leaves and aromatic flavor.
- The botanical species Apium graveolens includes several cultivated celery forms.
- Celery seeds are naturally tiny and are usually surface sown or only lightly covered with growing medium.
- Smallage can produce flower stalks and seeds when allowed to continue growing into its second season.