Valerian crown

Skirret (Sium sisarum)

Skirret is a traditional European perennial root vegetable that was widely grown from medieval times through to the 19th century, valued for its sweet, clustered roots. Often referred to in old texts as a “sugar root,” it produces slender, finger-like roots that are sweeter and more aromatic than carrots when cooked.
The flavour is gently sweet, nutty, and floral, with a soft, creamy texture when roasted, boiled, or pan-fried. At KoruKai Herb Farm, we especially enjoy it simply sautéed in butter, where its natural sweetness really shines.
Skirret forms a clump of multiple edible roots from a single crown, making it a productive and rewarding perennial vegetable for the home garden. Once established, plants improve in yield each year as the root system expands.

Your order includes a healthy seedling with developing storage roots and shoots (see sample image below). Plant it directly into the garden on arrival and it will establish quickly, re-emerging strongly in spring.

Growing instructions and care details are provided below.

Multiplying Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum)
Family: Amaryllidaceae

Multiplying Leeks are one of our favourite perennial vegetables at KoruKai Herb Farm. Exceptionally easy to grow, hardy, and highly productive, they require very little care while providing a reliable harvest throughout winter and well into spring—just when annual leeks are finishing for the season.

Unlike ordinary leeks, these perennial leeks multiply naturally by forming clumps of new plants each year. Individual stems grow to around thumb thickness, with a mild, sweet leek flavour that is perfect for soups, stews, stir-fries, quiches, and countless other dishes. Harvest what you need and leave the remaining plants to continue multiplying, creating an increasingly abundant patch year after year.

Your order includes a healthy starter clump of 3–4 young multiplying leeks, ready to establish quickly in your garden. Planting instructions and growing tips are provided below.

Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana)

Horseradish is a hardy, fast-growing perennial root crop valued for its powerful, pungent roots used in traditional culinary and herbal preparations. Once established, it produces vigorous leafy growth above ground and a deep, spreading root system below, forming a long-lived and highly productive plant.

Freshly harvested roots are grated or crushed to release their signature heat and aroma, traditionally used to make sauces, condiments, and medicinal preparations. A little goes a long way, making horseradish a rewarding and self-sustaining addition to the edible garden.

Each order includes 1 dormant, bare-root horseradish plant with a healthy growing tip (see example images below), ready to establish quickly and shoot strongly in spring.

Goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea)

Family: Asteraceae

Common names: Goldenrod, European Goldenrod, True Goldenrod, Woundwort

Goldenrod is a beautiful hardy perennial with graceful spikes of brilliant golden-yellow flowers that bloom from late summer into autumn. A favourite in cottage gardens, wildflower meadows, herb gardens, and pollinator plantings, it attracts bees, butterflies, and many other beneficial insects while adding a splash of colour late in the growing season.

Traditionally valued in European herbal medicine, goldenrod has long been used as a medicinal herb and was once applied to support wound healing. The vibrant flowers have also been used to produce a natural yellow dye.

Your plant is shipped during its winter dormancy as a bare-root crown with healthy growing buds already formed but little or no top growth (see example image below). Simply plant it into your garden over winter and it will emerge vigorously in spring, returning year after year with minimal care.

Growing instructions can be found below.

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)
Family: Lamiaceae

Rosemary is a beautiful evergreen Mediterranean herb, treasured for its fragrant, needle-like leaves, stunning blue flowers, and wide range of culinary and medicinal uses. Hardy, drought tolerant, and long-lived, it makes an attractive addition to herb gardens, food forests, edible hedges, and pollinator plantings.

Flowering from late winter through spring, Rosemary provides an important early nectar source for honeybees and other beneficial insects when few other plants are in bloom. Its aromatic foliage is indispensable in the kitchen, pairing beautifully with roasted vegetables, potatoes, breads, lamb, poultry, and many Mediterranean dishes.

Your order includes one healthy bare-rooted seedling, ready to establish quickly in your garden or a large container. Growing instructions, harvesting advice, and traditional medicinal uses are provided below.

Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris)
Family: Rosaceae
Common names: Lady’s Mantle

Lady’s Mantle is a beautiful, hardy perennial herb cherished for its soft scalloped leaves, delicate chartreuse flowers, and long history of use in women’s herbal medicine. Known for its astringent and toning qualities, it is especially valued for supporting menstrual health, digestion, and wound healing. Easy to grow and highly ornamental, it thrives in a wide range of garden conditions and makes an elegant addition to the herb garden.

Below you’ll find growing instructions, medicinal uses, and herbal preparation ideas.

Lady's Mantle dies down in winter. You will receive a dormant plant without leaves, but with growing shoots in place.

We may have more Tarragon plants available. We will assess and count up what we have available on Monday. So check back again. 

French Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa)

Family: Asteraceae

French tarragon is one of the finest culinary herbs, prized for its delicate anise-like flavour and fragrant, narrow green leaves. An essential ingredient in classic French cuisine, it is delicious in béarnaise, hollandaise, and tartare sauces, as well as with chicken, fish, eggs, potatoes, salads, and homemade herb butter. The leaves can be used fresh or dried.

Growing to approximately 30–40 cm tall, this hardy perennial forms an attractive clump and returns year after year with very little maintenance. Tiny yellow flowers may appear in summer.

You will receive one dormant first-year plant with visible growing shoots and little or no foliage, as French tarragon naturally dies back over winter (see example photo below). Simply plant it into your garden or a pot and it will emerge vigorously in spring. Regular harvesting and light pruning will encourage a dense, bushy plant.

Growing instructions can be found below.

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
Family: Lamiaceae
Common names: Lemon Balm, Balm Gentle

Lemon Balm is a vigorous, easy-to-grow perennial herb from the mint family, loved for its fresh citrus fragrance, soothing medicinal properties, and delicious flavour. Adaptable and generous, it thrives in a wide range of soil conditions and produces abundant growth throughout the season. With regular harvesting, we typically enjoy 3–4 cuts each year.

Lemon Balm dies down in winter. You will receive a dormant plant. 

Below you’ll find growing instructions, medicinal uses, and herbal preparation ideas.

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca)
Family: Lamiaceae
Common names: Motherwort, Lion’s Tail

Motherwort is a hardy, easy-to-grow perennial herb from the mint family, valued for its calming effects on the nervous system and its long traditional use in supporting the heart and women’s health. With its tall leafy stems, soft pink flowers, and abundant summer growth, Motherwort is both medicinally powerful and highly attractive to bees and other pollinators.

Below you’ll find growing instructions, medicinal uses, and herbal preparation ideas.

Motherwort dies down in winter. You will receive a dormant plant.

Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea)

Family: Asteraceae

Echinacea is one of the world's best-known medicinal herbs, traditionally valued for supporting a healthy immune system and helping the body respond to seasonal illness.*

These healthy 2–3 year old crowns are well established and ready to produce vigorous new growth and beautiful purple daisy-like flowers each summer. Simply plant into your garden upon arrival and enjoy this hardy perennial for many years to come.

Growing instructions, harvesting tips, and traditional herbal uses are provided below.

Mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum)
Also known as Añu, Isaño or Cubio

Mashua (pronounced Mah-shwuh) is a colourful Andean tuber closely related to the garden nasturtium. Exceptionally easy to grow, highly productive, and one of the most cold-hardy Andean root crops, it produces generous harvests of delicious tubers with very little care.

The tubers range from the size of small potatoes to large yams and develop a pleasantly sweet, slightly peppery flavour that becomes milder and sweeter when cooked. Even the young leaves and flowers are edible, making Mashua a truly versatile perennial vegetable.

A valuable companion plant, Mashua is traditionally grown alongside other crops because its aromatic foliage helps deter many insect pests, nematodes, and soil-borne diseases.

Each order includes either one large tuber or two medium-sized tubers, ready to plant. Simply place them in the garden when you receive them and watch them emerge in spring.

Growing instructions, harvesting advice, and culinary uses can be found below.

Chinese Artichoke / Crosnes (Stachys affinis)
Family: Lamiaceae

Chinese Artichokes, also known as Crosnes, are a delicious and unusual perennial root vegetable grown for their crisp, spiralled white tubers. Easy to grow and highly productive, they return year after year, producing abundant harvests from late autumn through winter.

The distinctive tubers resemble tiny grubs but are a gourmet delicacy with a wonderfully unique texture. Eaten raw, they are crisp, juicy, and slightly sweet, with a flavour reminiscent of water chestnuts. Cooked, they become tender, creamy, and subtly nutty, somewhere between a young potato, kūmara, and Jerusalem artichoke. In France, where they are known as Crosnes, they are traditionally braised in butter and fresh herbs—a simple preparation that beautifully highlights their delicate flavour.

Your order includes a starter pack of approximately five healthy tubers, ready for planting. Once established, the plants gradually multiply underground, providing increasingly generous harvests each year.

Chinese Artichokes are hardy, frost tolerant, and winter dormant, making them an excellent perennial vegetable for New Zealand gardens. Growing instructions, harvesting advice, and culinary tips are provided below.

Apple Mint (Mentha suaveolens)
Family: Lamiaceae

Common names: Apple Mint, Woolly Mint, Fuzzy Mint

Apple Mint is a wonderfully fragrant and easy-to-grow perennial herb, loved for its soft, velvety leaves and refreshing apple-mint flavour. Delicious in herbal teas, iced drinks, desserts, fruit salads, and savoury dishes, it is one of the most versatile mints for the kitchen. Its sweet aroma, attractive foliage, and nectar-rich flowers also make it a favourite with bees and other beneficial pollinators.

Your plant is supplied bare-rooted to ensure it arrives in excellent condition. Simply plant it into a pot or directly into the garden on arrival, water well for the first few days, and it will quickly establish into a vigorous, productive herb. Growing instructions, harvesting tips, and culinary uses are provided below.

Russian Comfrey Crowns (Symphytum × uplandicum)

Russian comfrey is a highly valuable perennial for food forests, orchards, and organic garden systems. Known for its vigorous growth, deep root system, and ability to accumulate nutrients, it is widely used as a dynamic accumulator, compost ingredient, mulch plant, and natural garden fertiliser.

This hardy, low-maintenance plant produces abundant foliage that can be repeatedly harvested throughout the growing season and returned to the soil to support healthy plant growth. Once established, it forms a productive clump that returns year after year.

Each order includes 1 strong crown cutting with a growing tip. Plant directly into your garden over winter and it will emerge strongly in spring. Growing instructions and uses can be found below.

Medicinal Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)
Family: Boraginaceae
Common names: Comfrey, Common Comfrey, Knitbone

Medicinal Comfrey is a deep-rooted, hardy perennial herb renowned for its powerful healing properties and exceptional ability to build soil fertility. Traditionally known as “knitbone,” it has long been used to support tissue repair, bruising, sprains, and wound healing. Fast-growing and highly productive, Comfrey is an invaluable medicinal herb as well as a nutrient-rich mulch plant for the garden.

Below you’ll find growing instructions, medicinal uses, and herbal preparation ideas.

You will receive one dormant crown with a growing tip.

Perennial Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)
Family: Urticaceae

Stinging Nettle is one of the world's most valued medicinal and edible perennial herbs. Highly nutritious, vigorous, and remarkably versatile, it has been used for centuries as a nourishing food, traditional herbal medicine, natural fertiliser, compost activator, and livestock tonic. Once established, it forms productive patches that provide abundant harvests of tender spring shoots year after year.

Your order includes 3 dormant rhizomes (approximately 20 cm long each), ready to establish quickly and send up vigorous new growth in spring. Planting instructions, harvesting advice, medicinal uses, and processing information are provided below.