General: Upright growing herb with dark green foliage and blue flowers. Versatile plant with antiviral properties; often combined with horehound. Can be used in cooking; has a minty flavor.

Culinary Uses: Add small quantities of finely chopped leaves with your usual seasoning herbs to stuffing for duck, pork, or goose to help cut fattiness; for the same reason chop some leaves and stir into a rich gravy white its thickening. Sprinkle a few crumbled leaves into soup during the last half hour of cooking. When used sparingly the distinct aroma of the herb does not intrude, it intrigues.

Medicinal Uses: Herbalists have prescribed hyssop for a variety of ailments; chest complaints, appetite improvement, gastric problems, excretion of urine, expelling intestinal worms, a sedative, and combined with sage as a gargle for sore throats. Hyssop tea can be sipped to help with heavy colds and digestive upsets. A wash made from the leaves can be applied to cuts and bruises as antiseptic and to help heal the wounds.

Ornamental Uses: An attractive flowering herb that is generally grown for its flavorful leaves. The hyssop plant is easy to grow and makes a nice addition to a garden. The spikes of blue, pink, or red flowers which help in attracting important pollinators to the landscape.