Growing Tarragon (French): A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · July 29, 2026
True French tarragon is prized for its anise-like flavor, and it comes with a specific catch worth knowing before you buy: French tarragon is sterile and cannot be grown from seed at all. Anything sold as tarragon seed is the milder, less flavorful Russian tarragon instead.
Which type to plant
French tarragon and Russian tarragon are grown and sold under the same common name, but they’re different plants with a different point. French tarragon has smoother, darker, glossier leaves and the strong anise flavor that makes tarragon worth growing in the first place. Russian tarragon is taller and coarser, tolerates poorer soil and colder winters, and sets viable seed, but Illinois Extension describes its flavor as bland by comparison, missing the odor and taste that define the herb. The two aren’t interchangeable substitutes for each other; one is a kitchen herb and the other is closer to a hardy filler plant that happens to share a name. Since French tarragon can’t be grown from seed at all, the only way to end up with it is to buy a plant or division specifically labeled French tarragon.
Planting it
Because true French tarragon is sterile, it’s always propagated from a cutting or a root division of an existing plant, never from seed. Set it out about a week after your last frost, and expect about 65 days to a usable harvest.
What goes wrong
The most common disappointment is a bland-tasting plant that turns out to have been grown from seed. That’s Russian tarragon, not French, and no amount of good growing technique will give it French tarragon’s flavor. Confirm the specific plant or division you’re buying is labeled French tarragon before planting if flavor is the goal. French tarragon also won’t tolerate poorly drained soil, especially over winter, and established plants benefit from dividing every 3 to 4 years to stay productive.
A perennial corner, not a rotation crop
Tarragon has no well-established companion pairings, and nothing it needs to be kept away from. As a compact perennial herb, it fits easily into a spare square in the Garden Designer alongside other kitchen herbs.
Sources: Tarragon: French, Illinois Extension.
Companion planting guide for Tarragon (French) · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 3-10. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Mature height: 1.5-2.5 ft
Method: Buy as a start: Buy as a nursery start and transplant outside. It's slow or unreliable from seed, so most gardeners skip seed-starting it entirely.
When to plant tarragon (French), by zone
Every zone tarragon (French) grows in. Pick your zone in the header and it will be highlighted here. Each zone links to its full page.
| Zone | Start indoors | Sow or plant out | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3a & 3b | Buy as a start | Jun 6–Jun 13 | Aug 10–Aug 17 |
| 4a & 4b | Buy as a start | May 22–May 29 | Jul 26–Aug 2 |
| 5a & 5b | Buy as a start | May 17–May 24 | Jul 21–Jul 28 |
| 6a & 6b | Buy as a start | May 2–May 9 | Jul 6–Jul 13 |
| 7a & 7b | Buy as a start | Apr 17–Apr 24 | Jun 21–Jun 28 |
| 8a & 8b | Buy as a start | Apr 1–Apr 8 | Jun 5–Jun 12 |
| 9a & 9b | Buy as a start | Feb 22–Mar 1 | Apr 28–May 5 |
| 10a & 10bSpring window | Buy as a start | Mar–Apr | ~65 days after transplanting |
| Fall window | Buy as a start | Oct–Nov | ~65 days after transplanting |
Harvest dates are about 65 days after the sow or plant-out date.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Tarragon (French) plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 1 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1.5-2.5 ft.
Varieties worth considering
- French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus, sold as French or 'Sativa'), never seed: Every seed packet labeled tarragon is Russian tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus var. dracunculoides), a taller, coarser, hardier plant that lacks the anise flavor people grow tarragon for. French tarragon is sterile, produces no viable seed, and only comes as a cutting or division. If it germinated from a seed packet, it's the wrong plant no matter how well it grows. (source)
Why each variety is listed comes from the source shown next to it. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement. The buy links are separate from those sources: they go to seed suppliers that sell that exact variety, and we may earn a commission on some of them.
Where to buy tarragon starts
Tarragon (French) is almost always bought as a nursery start rather than seeded. Check a local nursery or garden center; we haven't vetted online start/plant suppliers yet.
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See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing tarragon (French)" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Tarragon (French): The good kind (French tarragon) can't be grown from seed at all. If it's sold as seed, it isn't the real thing.
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