I’m trying to grow Hyssop yet again – the plant looks wonderful (mine has pinky flowers) but I’ve not yet managed to get it to live over a cold winter. I’ll make the most of it in case it goes again – I’ll dry the leaves but also will use some right now for my son’s bad cold. Not only can it be used as a home remedy it can also be used for a flavouring in cooking (though I’ve not tried it yet) and it can be used as a green dye, I believe.

Hyssop is a member of the mint family and has narrow pungent leaves with a bitter, spicy flavour. Hyssop’s flavour and aroma come from the oil of hyssop, a colourless greenish liquid whose most important constituent (at 50%)  is pinene which smells and tastes like turpentine. Oil of Hyssop is sometimes used to flavour the liqueurs Benedictine and Chartreuse.

Home remedy for the symptoms of a cold: Pinene is an expectorant, an agent increasing the secretions of the mucous membranes lining the bronchial tubes, liquefying mucous so you can cough. As a home remedy for the blocked up nose that comes with the common cold steep fresh or dried hyssop leaves in hot water and inhale the vapours. You can also use it internally as a minty tea. 

In the garden pinene can help Hyssop to repel some insects and some species of butterflies and planting it near food crops is a natural insect repellent.