As an herb, salad burnet offers a clean, cucumber-like flavor.
It’s an easy-growing plant that appears early in the season and holds up well in the heat.
Burnet is usually planted in the spring from seeds started indoors four to five weeks before the last frost.
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Once transplanted into the garden, the plants will reach maturity about two months after germination.
Cover lightly, with 1/8 inch of soil, and keep moist until it germinates.
Transplant indoor seedlings after all danger of frost is passed.
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You canthin direct-sownplants to one foot apart and use the thinned seedlings in a salad.
First-year plants will grow to about eight to ten inches tall.
Subsequent years will produce larger plants that flower.
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Pinchingand harvesting your burnet will be your primary maintenance chore.
Plants left to mature will have somewhat tougher leaves.
Removing the flowers and flower stalks will encourage more leaves and will reduce self-seeding.
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Burnet forms a clump and stays fairly well-contained and controlled, growing in a loose rosette.
However, salad burnet spreads easily by rhizomes and it will also self-seed.
The young seedlings are easy to pull out, so they’re not much of a nuisance.
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Burnet Care
Light
Salad burnet does well in eitherfull sun or partial shade.
Partial shade is preferable if you are growing it in a dry environment.
At the same time, good drainage is important.
This plant will not tolerate soggy roots, but it should not be allowed to dry out.
It will die back to the ground each year in regions with cold winters, re-growing in the spring.
Then, feed them with a diluted water-soluble fertilizer or fish emulsion every six weeks.
Propagating Burnet
Burnet clumps can bedividedin spring or fall to make new plants.
Separate root clumps into pieces that each contain some foliage, then replant them at the same depth.
Harvesting Burnet
It takes 70 to 100 days for burnet to reach maturity from germination.
The young, tender leaves have the best flavor.
Harvesting the outer leaves of established plants will encourage new growth.
Strip the leaves and discard the tough stems.
Use burnet whenever you want to add a cool, cucumber flavor to leafy salads.
Use salad burnet to flavor dips and bottles of vinegar.
Toss leaves into soups, eggs, and other hot dishes at the very last minute.
Because it is hardy toUSDA Hardiness Zone4, it should over-winter in containers down to USDA Hardiness Zone 6.
Withprotection, it might survive colder climates.
A standard potting mix is a good choice when growing burnet in pots.
