Salad burnet plant is a Mediterranean native with hardy tolerance. It is a perennial herb, which is naturalized in Europe and North America. Salad burnet herb is a member of the rose family and is used as erosion control, as a salad green, and used for flavoring in vinegars and sauces. There are also old cosmetic and medicinal applications for the plant. Salad burnet is easy to grow and makes a useful addition to the herb garden or perennial bed.
I. Appearance and Characteristics
Sanguisorba minor, the salad burnet, garden burnet, small burnet, burnet (also used for Sanguisorba generally), pimpernelle, Toper’s plant, and burnet-bloodwort, is an edible perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae. It has ferny, toothed-leaf foliage; the unusual crimson, spherical flower clusters rise well above the leaves on thin stems. It generally grows to 25–55 cm tall (moisture-dependent; as short as 2 cm in dry areas). The large, long (sometimes 1m/3-foot), taproots store water, making it drought-tolerant.
It is evergreen to semi-evergreen; in warmer climates grows all year around, and in cold climates it stays green until heavy snow cover occurs. Plants may live over 20 years, though 7-12 is more usual; it lives longer if sometimes permitted to set seed. Burnet flowers in early summer.
Subspecies include muricata, minor, and mongolii (the last from the Mediterranean).
Salad burnet is native to western, central and southern Europe; northwest Africa, southwest Western Asia and Siberia.
It is grown in containers, wildflower meadows, ornamental gardens, and kitchen gardens, usually in sunny or very slightly shady spaces with an equator-facing or west-facing aspect. In North America, it is grown on dry rangelands. It is used for grazing, erosion control, post-fire weed control, firebreaks, and landscape rehabilitation. Because it tends to stay green, it is considered fire-resistant.
II. How to Grow and Care
Salad burnet’s basic care needs include regular watering to maintain moist soil, especially during dry periods, and a sunny to partially-shaded location. Special care points for salad burnet involve trimming the plant after flowering to encourage new growth and prevent it from becoming too leggy. Its overall care is straightforward, which makes salad burnet an easy plant to grow for gardeners of all levels.
Sunlight
Salad burnet thrives best under full sun conditions, which aids in robust growth and optimum herb quality. This preferred light intensity ensures vigorous vegetative development and the manifestation of the plant’s full aromatic potential. While salad burnet tolerates a range of light levels, it’s important to note that insufficient light could result in leggy plants and diminished flavor.
Excessive shade may also predispose the plant to a lesser health capability and reduced resilience. In outdoor settings, salad burnet should be positioned in an area where it can benefit from unobstructed sunlight for the majority of the day, to align with its photosynthetic needs and enhance its vitality.
Watering
Originating from temperate regions, salad burnet thrives in environments with moderate moisture levels. It exhibits a preference for consistent soil hydration without being waterlogged, indicative of its adaptability to periodic dry spells. For optimal growth, watering every week is recommended to maintain the plant’s health. Typically grown outdoors due to its hardiness, salad burnet benefits from natural rainfall patterns which complement its watering schedule. As an herbaceous perennial, salad burnet’s water uptake is crucial during its active growing season to support lush foliage and robust growth.
Soil
Salad burnet performs best in full sun in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils that do not dry out.
Fertilizing
For salad burnet, apply a balanced fertilizer like a 10-10-10 or similar ratio in the growing season to encourage verdant foliage and robust health. Fertilize once at the beginning of spring and once in midsummer, using about a tablespoon per plant, sprinkled around the base and watered in. Avoid over-fertilizing, as this can hinder the plant’s growth and cause leaf burn. During dormancy in colder months, cease fertilization to allow salad burnet to rest. Novice and expert gardeners should wear gloves and avoid direct contact with the fertilizer to ensure plant and personal safety.
Planting Instructions
You can start seeds indoors, four or five weeks before your last frost date, but burnet seed also does well when sown directly in the garden about two weeks before the last frost. Cover lightly, with 1/8 inch of soil, and keep moist until it germinates. Transplant indoor seedlings after all danger of frost is passed.
You can thin direct-sown plants 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. Burnet is often evergreen in USDA hardiness zones 7 and 8 but usually dies back to the ground in the northern part of its hardiness range.
Pinching and 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.
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.
Pruning
Regularly cut back older leaves to promote the growth of young leaves which have the best taste.
Propagation
Salad burnet is easily propagated through the division of its rhizomes. Careful separation of the root clumps can facilitate a successful propagation process. It’s important to make sure each division contains both roots and shoots for optimal growth. Gently tease apart the root ball when the plant is dormant and replant the divisions at the same depth they were growing initially. This method promotes quick establishment and aids in maintaining the health and vitality of the plant.
Transplanting
Optimal transplanting for salad burnet coincides with milder weather, notably the rejuvenating window of early to mid-spring or the tranquil calm from late fall into early winter. Choose a sunny spot with well-drained soil. Gentle handling of the root ball ensures a smooth transition.
Pests and Diseases
Few problems plague burnet, though it can be prone to leaf spot disease in wet or damp weather. You can help prevent that by providing good air circulation and removing any affected leaves before the problem has a chance to spread.
III. Uses and Benefits
- Ornamental uses
The unusual crimson, ball-shaped blooms are carried aloft on tall, thin stems, well above the ferny, toothed-leaf foliage. The leaves are often considered more ornamental than the flowers, which are often removed to encourage more foliage growth. However, the cut flowers are used in floral arrangements.
For wild and domestic animals
The flowers provide nectar and pollen, and attract bees, butterflies, moths, and other pollinators and beneficial insects. It is classified as a moderate honeybee food in New Zealand, and as a good nectar producer in the United States.
Salad burnet is good forage for wildlife and livestock, partly because it stays green for so long. Elk, deer, antelope and birds forage on the leaves and seeds. It provides cover for small birds, and it is used by the greater sage-grouse. It is planted on rangelands in western North America, including in pinyon-juniper woodlands, ponderosa pine forests, dry quaking aspen parklands, mountain grasslands, chaparral, desert and mountain shrublands, and sagebrush steppe. After the first year, it is grazed roughly every 35 days, or whenever it is 12 inches (30 cm) tall, until it is half that height.
- Medicinal uses
Salad burnet has in the past been used medicinally in Europe to control bleeding.
Salad burnet has the same medicinal qualities as medicinal burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis). It was used as a tea to relieve diarrhea in the past.
- Culinary uses
Young burnet leaves are used as an ingredient in salads, dressings, sauces, summer drinks, and in claret. It is also used to flavour vinegar, butter, and cream cheese.
It has a flavor described as “mildly cucumber, a bit tart, a little hot” and is considered interchangeable with mint leaves in some recipes, depending on the intended effect. Typically, the youngest leaves are used, as they tend to become bitter as they age; old leaves are cut back to encourage new growth.
Salad burnet was called a favorite herb by Francis Bacon, was brought to the New World with the first English colonists, and was given special mention by Thomas Jefferson. It declined in popularity as a kitchen herb, but As of 2022, is becoming more popular again, for food and as an ornamental.
IV. Harvesting and Storage
It takes 70 to 100 days for burnet to reach maturity from germination. However, young, tender leaves have the best flavor and you can start harvesting them when the plants reach about four inches tall. The plants can bloom anytime from spring to fall, and they might not flower at all if you keep cutting them back to harvest.
Harvest leaves as you need them, but don’t remove more than about one-third of a plant at one time if you want it to continue growing. 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.