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Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) is an ancient healing herb grown for its distinctly sweet roots with a natural anise-like flavor. This hardy perennial thrives in hardiness zones 4-11 and reaches 36-60 inches tall, making it substantial enough to anchor an herb garden. Unlike many herbs, licorice plays a long game: it needs 2-3 years to reach maturity, but the wait rewards patient gardeners with roots that have been treasured in traditional medicine and culinary traditions for thousands of years. You can grow it in the ground, in containers, or raised beds, and deer won't touch it.
Full Sun
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4-11
60in H x ?in W
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Moderate
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Licorice is a perennial that demands patience but repays it generously. Those anise-scented roots develop gradually over years, creating a slow-release harvest that keeps giving. The plant itself is ornamental enough for visible garden spaces, with upright growth reaching several feet tall. Seed starting indoors 6-8 weeks before transplanting ensures those seeds germinate reliably in consistent warmth, and once established, this herb handles both container life and field conditions with equal ease.
The roots are the prize: harvested and dried, they can be chewed directly, brewed into tea, or used as a natural sweetener and flavoring agent. Licorice root has long featured in traditional herbal preparations and tonics. The characteristic anise flavor makes it valuable for beverages, herbal blends, and confectionery applications. Modern gardeners often grow licorice specifically to harvest, dry, and process the roots for personal herbal preparations rather than culinary cooking.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Start licorice seeds indoors approximately 6-8 weeks before your planned transplant date. Maintain consistent warmth with soil temperatures between 70-85°F to encourage germination. Licorice requires this warm, controlled environment because seeds germinate reliably only with steady heat.
Transplant outdoors after all frost danger has passed in your region. Space plants 36 inches apart in rows spaced 48 inches wide. Licorice is frost-tender, so wait until nighttime temperatures have warmed sufficiently in your hardiness zone (4-11) before moving seedlings outdoors.
Harvest roots after 2-3 years of growth. The roots are ready once the plant has matured and developed the characteristic sweetness and anise-like flavor that makes licorice valuable. Harvest by carefully digging to extract the complete root system. Roots should be cleaned, dried thoroughly, and stored for later use.
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“Glycyrrhiza glabra carries a lineage stretching back millennia. True Leaf Market's catalog identifies this as an heirloom, non-GMO, open-pollinated variety, positioning it within the tradition of seed savers and gardeners who have preserved this plant's genetics across generations. The plant itself has been documented in healing practices across Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Asian cultures, moving from wild collection to deliberate cultivation as its value became undeniable. Modern gardeners growing this variety from seed continue that ancient chain of preservation, bringing what herbalists have long considered a cornerstone plant into contemporary herb gardens.”