Coriander 'Slow Bolt'

One plant, two completely different crops — citrusy, divisive cilantro leaves and warm, nutty coriander seeds are produced by the same plant at different stages of its life, with entirely different flavours and uses; grow your own for both, and stop the supermarket pot plant trap once and for all.

About this variety

Bold Coriandrum sativum — the slow-bolt strain bred specifically for UK growing. The bolt-resistance is properly the key. Standard coriander grown from supermarket pot plants typically flowers within two or three weeks in warm weather, by which point the leaves have turned thin and bitter and the crop is essentially over. Slow-bolt strains delay that flowering by weeks — meaning a much longer harvest window of the lush, citrusy cilantro leaves before the plant decides to put its energy into seed production. When it does eventually bolt, the plant rewards you again with aromatic green coriander seeds that ripen to the warm, nutty brown spice used in curries, sausages, pickling and Middle Eastern cooking. Properly two crops, sequentially, from a single sowing.

A note on growing

Sow direct from April through August in the UK — coriander hates root disturbance, so transplanting from modules rarely works. Successional sowings every 3–4 weeks keep the leaf harvest properly going through summer and autumn. Plant 1cm deep in rich, well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade. Thin to 20cm spacing once seedlings establish. Water consistently — drought stress triggers bolting faster than anything else. Harvest leaves regularly from week 4 onwards; let the final sowing bolt and run to seed in autumn for the coriander spice harvest. Both leaves and seeds dry properly well for storage.

Where it shines

Coriander earns its place in the kitchen garden across multiple cuisines — properly essential for Thai, Mexican, Indian, Middle Eastern and Vietnamese cooking, where the leaves go into salsas, salads, curries, soups and garnishes. The mature seeds add their warm, citrus-pepper flavour to chutneys, breads, pickles, sausages and homemade curry powders. The flowers (when allowed) attract proper numbers of hoverflies, parasitic wasps and other beneficial insects, making coriander a properly useful companion plant amongst vegetable beds. The growing plant also looks lovely — soft feathery foliage with delicate white umbel flowers that suit the cottage kitchen garden aesthetic.

Plant alongside

Coriander pairs particularly well with anise hyssop, dill and chervil for an aromatic herb bed; with tomatoes, peppers and aubergines for kitchen garden companion planting; with calendula and nasturtium for pollinator-friendly veg patches; and amongst brassicas to attract the parasitic wasps and hoverflies that prey on cabbage aphids and caterpillars. Sow alongside our other herb seeds for a complete kitchen herb selection, or pair with companion planting seeds for proper integrated pest management.