Oregon · Washington · Idaho

When to plant tarragon

Plant in the garden: Portland and Seattle Mar 15 – May 10; Spokane Apr 15 – Jun 10; Boise Apr 1 – May 27; Bend May 12 – Jul 7.

French tarragon is a perennial herb in the daisy family with narrow leaves and a sweet, anise-like flavor, the key herb in béarnaise sauce and fines herbes. It's used with chicken, fish and eggs and to flavor vinegar. Plants lose vigor after a few years, so dig and divide them every three years or so.

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Puts tarragon on your free plan, with dates for your town and a spot in your beds.

Difficulty: Moderate
Sun: Full sun; tolerates light afternoon shade
Spacing: 18 to 24 inches apart
Planting depth: Plant at the depth it grew in the nursery pot
Frost: Very hardy in well-drained soil; dies back each winter
First harvest: Pick lightly the first year, freely after that

Buy French tarragon as a plant: it rarely sets seed, and tarragon sold as seed is the flavorless Russian kind. It needs sun and soil that drains well in winter.

Tarragon planting dates

Towns	Plant in the garden
Portland, OR, Seattle and Tacoma, WA	Mar 15 – May 10
Spokane, WA	Apr 15 – Jun 10
Boise and Meridian, ID, Astoria, OR	Apr 1 – May 27
Bend and Redmond, OR	May 12 – Jul 7

Dates for six main cities. For any of the other 80 towns, type it in the box at the top of the page or browse all towns.

Gresham, OR, Oregon City and West Linn, OR, Portland, OR, St. Helens and Scappoose, OR, Wilsonville and Canby, OR	Mar 15 – May 10
Hillsboro and Beaverton, OR	Mar 19 – May 14

Corvallis and Albany, OR, Eugene, OR, Salem, OR	Mar 15 – May 10
Cottage Grove, OR	Mar 27 – May 22
McMinnville and Newberg, OR	Mar 18 – May 13

Ashland and Talent, OR	Apr 8 – Jun 3
Grants Pass, OR, Medford, OR, Roseburg, OR	Mar 15 – May 10

Astoria, OR, Brookings and Gold Beach, OR, Coos Bay and North Bend, OR, Newport and Lincoln City, OR, Tillamook, OR	Apr 1 – May 27

Bend and Redmond, OR, Klamath Falls, OR	May 12 – Jul 7
Burns, OR	May 14 – Jul 9
Lakeview, OR	May 7 – Jul 2
Madras, OR	Apr 21 – Jun 16
Prineville, OR	May 4 – Jun 29

Baker City, OR	Apr 27 – Jun 22
Enterprise and Joseph, OR	Apr 26 – Jun 21
Hermiston, OR, Hood River, OR, Ontario, OR, Pendleton, OR, The Dalles, OR	Apr 1 – May 27
John Day, OR	Apr 30 – Jun 25
La Grande, OR	Apr 15 – Jun 10

Bremerton and Port Orchard, WA, Everett, WA, Kent, Renton and Auburn, WA, Seattle and Tacoma, WA	Mar 15 – May 10
Olympia, WA	Apr 1 – May 27
Shelton, WA	Mar 30 – May 25

Anacortes, WA, Bellingham, WA, Friday Harbor and the San Juans, WA, Mount Vernon and Burlington, WA, Oak Harbor and Whidbey Island, WA	Mar 15 – May 10

Aberdeen and Hoquiam, WA, Forks, WA, Long Beach and Ilwaco, WA	Apr 1 – May 27
Port Angeles, WA, Port Townsend, WA	Mar 15 – May 10
Sequim, WA	Mar 24 – May 19

Centralia and Chehalis, WA	Mar 25 – May 20
Longview and Kelso, WA, Vancouver, WA	Mar 15 – May 10

Chelan, WA, Wenatchee, WA	Apr 1 – May 27
Leavenworth, WA, Omak and Okanogan, WA	Apr 15 – Jun 10
Winthrop and Twisp, WA	Apr 17 – Jun 12

Ellensburg, WA	Apr 15 – Jun 10
Ephrata and Quincy, WA, Moses Lake, WA, Tri-Cities (Pasco, Kennewick, Richland), WA, Walla Walla, WA	Apr 1 – May 27
Goldendale, WA	Apr 21 – Jun 16
Sunnyside, Grandview and Prosser, WA	Apr 3 – May 29
Yakima, WA	Apr 10 – Jun 5

Colville, WA, Pullman, WA, Spokane, WA	Apr 15 – Jun 10

Bonners Ferry, ID, Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls, ID, Sandpoint, ID	Apr 15 – Jun 10

Lewiston, ID	Apr 1 – May 27
Moscow, ID	Apr 15 – Jun 10

Boise and Meridian, ID, Nampa and Caldwell, ID	Apr 1 – May 27
Emmett, ID	Apr 2 – May 28
McCall, ID	May 25 – Jul 20

Burley and Rupert, ID, Idaho Falls, ID, Pocatello, ID, Rexburg, ID, Twin Falls, ID	Apr 15 – Jun 10
Salmon, ID	Apr 19 – Jun 14

Tarragon year at a glance

Task	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Plant			Mar	Apr	May
Harvest					May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep

Around Portland. Colder towns, especially east of the Cascades, run a few weeks later; the table above has your town's planting dates.

How to grow tarragon

Pick a sunny spot with soil that drains well, and mix in an inch or two of compost.
Plant young French tarragon plants on your city's dates, 18 to 24 inches apart. Plant at the depth it grew in the nursery pot.
Water through the first summer, then sparingly. Cut stems to the ground in late fall and mulch lightly in cold eastern gardens.
Harvest: Snip sprigs from late spring through summer. The flavor is best fresh or frozen; dried tarragon loses most of its anise taste.

Growing tarragon in your part of the Northwest

The same plant behaves differently on the wet west side, the foggy coast and the dry, colder east side.

West-side valleys

Willamette Valley, Puget Sound, southern Oregon

French tarragon rots in wet winter soil, so give it good drainage. Grow it from cuttings or divisions, since it doesn't set seed.

East of the Cascades

Columbia Basin, Yakima, Boise, Spokane, north Idaho

Tarragon handles cold winters and dry summers well. Divide every few years.

High desert and mountain towns

Central Oregon, high eastern Oregon valleys, McCall, Salmon

French tarragon is hardy here with good drainage.

More tarragon varieties

More widely sold picks that do well somewhere in the Northwest. The tag says which part of the Northwest suits each one best.

French tarragon

Artemisia dracunculus 'Sativa' · Perennial

The true culinary tarragon with a sweet anise flavor. Sold only as plants, since it rarely sets seed.

Both sides

Russian tarragon

Wild type, from seed · Perennial

Taller and tougher than French tarragon but with very little flavor. Usually what you get from seed packets.

Both sides

Mexican tarragon

Tagetes lucida, substitute · Annual here

A marigold relative with an anise flavor close to tarragon. Frost-tender, so grow it as a summer annual or in a pot.

West side

How much to grow

How many to plant

One or two plants for most households.

What to expect

Enough sprigs from one plant for regular cooking.

Storing the harvest

Freeze leaves or steep them in vinegar; drying loses most of the anise flavor.

Key numbers

Plants, not seedBuy as
Very hardy, if drainedCold hardiness
Every 3 yearsDivide
Wet winter rootsBiggest risk

Top care tip: Keep the roots out of wet winter soil and divide clumps every third spring.

Growing notes

What makes the difference in Northwest gardens, in plain language.

French versus Russian

The tarragon cooks want is French tarragon, with its sweet anise flavor. It rarely produces viable seed, so it's sold only as plants grown from cuttings or divisions. Seed packets labeled tarragon are almost always Russian tarragon, which is vigorous but nearly flavorless.

Before buying, crush a leaf. French tarragon smells clearly of licorice and leaves a faint numbing tingle on the tongue.

Planting and winter care

Plant in full sun or light afternoon shade in soil that drains well. Like sage and thyme, it suffers more from wet winter roots than from cold, so use a raised bed or pot on the west side.

It dies back to the ground in winter and regrows in spring. Cut old stems down in late fall. Clumps lose vigor after a few years; divide them in spring every third year to keep them productive.

Harvest and use

Snip sprigs from late spring through summer. Regular cutting keeps plants bushy.

The flavor is best fresh. To keep it, freeze chopped leaves or steep sprigs in vinegar. Dried tarragon loses much of its flavor.

Good neighbors

Thyme and sage. The same well-drained, sunny spot.

Pests and problems

What most often goes wrong with tarragon in Northwest gardens, how to spot it and what to do.

Root rot

Signs: Plants fail to come back after a wet winter.

What to do: Plant where water drains fast, or in a raised bed.

Fading flavor

Signs: Old clumps taste weak.

What to do: Divide every three years in spring.

Wrong plant

Signs: Leaves taste of grass, not anise.

What to do: Buy French tarragon as a plant; seed sold as tarragon is the nearly flavorless Russian kind.

Common questions about growing tarragon

When should I plant tarragon in Oregon, Washington and Idaho?

Plant in the garden: Mar 15 – May 10 in Portland and Seattle, Apr 15 – Jun 10 in Spokane, Apr 1 – May 27 in Boise and May 12 – Jul 7 in Bend. Pick your town at the top of the page for your own dates.

Can I grow French tarragon from seed?

No. French tarragon rarely sets viable seed. Seed sold as tarragon is usually Russian tarragon. Buy a plant instead.

Why did my tarragon disappear in winter?

It dies back to the ground every winter and regrows in spring. If nothing comes back by May, the roots likely rotted in wet soil.

Does tarragon need full sun?

It does best in full sun but tolerates some afternoon shade, which can help in hot eastern summers.

Also on these lists:

See what else to plant in March, April or May.

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See all 109 plants

When to plant tarragon

Your dates in

Tarragon planting dates

Tarragon year at a glance

How to grow tarragon

Growing tarragon in your part of the Northwest

West-side valleys

East of the Cascades

High desert and mountain towns

More tarragon varieties

French tarragon

Russian tarragon

Mexican tarragon

How much to grow

How many to plant

What to expect

Storing the harvest

Key numbers

Growing notes

French versus Russian

Planting and winter care

Harvest and use

Good neighbors

Good neighbors

Pests and problems

Root rot

Fading flavor

Wrong plant

Common questions about growing tarragon

More herbs