Chervil

Chervil

Amata and I wanted to plant some chervil but have so far not come across any seedlings to plant nor even any seeds. Has anyone seen chervil for sale at a garden store in town?

Antonius

I *believe* I've seen chervil seedlings at Caputo's in Elmwood Park.

I'm not sure if they still have the big outdoor tent where they sell the plants, though. I'd at least give them a call and see if they're still selling plants.

I saw some at Gethsemane yesterday.

5739 N. Clark
(773) 878-5915

I haven't laid eyes on it, but you may have some luck finding Chervil at Jayson Home and Garden in Lincoln Park. They tend to be overpriced, but this was the first place that came to mind when I read your post.

Jayson Home and Garden
1885 N. Clybourn
Chicago, IL 60614
773-248-8180

But if you're willing to bend your definition of "in town" to unnatural extremes, my recommendation would be to call up the Planter's Palette in Winfield. I wished we lived closer (not really) just to be near this nursery. It's worth it.

Planter's Palette
28 W 571 Roosevelt Road
Winfield, Illinois 60190
630-293-1040

Good luck,
Zee

gleam wrote:I *believe* I've seen chervil seedlings at Caputo's in Elmwood Park.

I'm not sure if they still have the big outdoor tent where they sell the plants, though. I'd at least give them a call and see if they're still selling plants.

Caputo's does have the tent up -- I was there last weekend to get some tomato plants. I don't recall seeing chervil, but that doesn't mean they don't carry it.

Hammond

We have some chervil seed that was saved prior to last year. The envelope is not dated, so I don't know when it was saved. This seed has not been fully threshed from the heads. My guesstimate is that that there are the equivalent of eight to twelve commercial packets. Chervil self-seeds pretty readily and comes up the next year even after a Chicago winter.

Note that chervil plants don't transplant really well unless they are quite small. Stressed older plants (or any in hot weather) are prone to bolting. Large plants in small pots are usually pretty stressed to begin with. In strong sun the leaves turn purplish green.

Johnnys[johnnyseeds.com] carries the cultivar Veritissimo. I have had fairly quick response to web orders although my orders tend to be well before the big crush.

PM if you are willing to take a chance on some seed that may be several years old. We may be able to connect.

I have seen chervil seed at the Farmer's Market on Elston north of Irving Park, at Gethsemane, I generally don't have a hard time finding it.

It does not transplant well. An old friend, cookbook author and general all around great gardener, years ago advised me to plant my parsley as a thick hedge, sowing about 2/3 of the packet and then mixing the last 1/3 with the full packet of chervil. The parsley helps shade the chervil just a bit, and it does seem to do better, that is, it doesn't bolt so quickly.

Both the parsley and the chervil will come back after a winter, but will go to seed the second year.

Good luck.