A new garden: Ramsons

Before moving to the UK, I lived in Germany for several years. It was there that I first knew of this wonderful plant. I love the delicate white flowers of ramsons and their leaves are also quite attractive. But it is their garlicky scent, that can be felt whenever one walks through the woods in Spring, that I love the most. It always brings back happy memories. The German eat Baerlauch leaves in sauces and dips. The flavour is similar to garlic or chives, but more delicate. However, my favourite way to use them is Baerlauch omelette. It is quite a simple recipe, just eggs and ramsons' leaves.

Even though, the RHS assures me they grow in full sun, I have always seen ramsons grow under the dark shade of trees in the wild and that is exactly where I am planting the roots I have just bought (one can be seen in the photo, next Spring I will hopefully be able to add a photo of the grown plant). They like a moist and fertile soil.

This is a wild plant, that requires no care besides watering when necessary to keep the soil well moist. Just cultivate it in fertile, well-drained soil (add grit when grown in clay soils to improve drainage). Plant the top of bulbs 5 cm under the surface. It propagates by seed or division.