Shop bupleurum here

Beautiful bupleurum – that’s a bit of a tongue twister! So, if you’re not sure how to pronounce it – it’s boo-pler-um.

This pretty plant, which we sell under the ‘flower’ category, is actually a herb. But unless you have experience in herbal medicine or the like we don’t recommend ingesting it. These days, bupleurum is more commonly grown to add colour and texture to gardens and for cut flowers – it lasts really well in a vase.

It has beautiful eucalyptus-like leaves on tall stems with green-yellow flowers and grows to around 80cm tall. It’s closely related to fennel and dill, and you can see why – they have quite a similar look due to the fact they are all umbel-forming plants.

What’s an umbel? This word comes from the latin word umbella which you’ve probably guessed means parasol, sunshade – much like an umbrella. And it’s used to describe the short flower stalks which spread out from a common point on each stem - like the ribs of an umbrella.

While there’s a bit of information you can learn about bupleurum, growing it is quite simple.

It likes full sun and each plant should be planted around 40cm apart from the next. Once it’s planted it’s very easy-care and doesn’t attract many pests or insects. And will flower in around four to five weeks.

It’s a short-lived perennial which means if you live in an area that gets frosts you will probably get one flowering from your bupleurum. But if you live in a frost-free area of New Zealand, you should get two or more flowerings out of your bupleurum.

And regardless of where you live, if you’re lucky, when they’ve finished flowering they may self-seed and pop up again the next year.