Hyssop (Children)

Hyssop is my favourite plant. I like the colour of its flowers and that butterflies love it. Bees also come to it. Mum and dad say that this is good and that we should be pleased.

We cut the stems of flowers in the morning and hang them upside-down to dry. Sometimes I help granny take the leaves off and grind the dried stalks. We use them to make our food taste nice.

Grow your hyssop

Make little holes in the soil and place some seeds in them. Make sure that the holes are not too deep. They like to live just below the surface!

Lightly cover the seeds with soil.

Keep the soil a little damp. Be careful, the seeds do not like too much water!

Wait for their green leaves to appear

For older children

Hyssop is typically a plant which we can use as a herb to flavour our food. However, when planted, hyssop can look so beautiful that we can also use it as a decorative plant in our gardens, especially as a colourful border surrounding a flower garden. We can sow hyssop seeds towards the end of winter, making sure they are planted no more than an inch below the soil. It’s also important to make sure each plant is spaced about 6-12 inches apart to help them grow better. It should take around two to three weeks before the hyssop begins to sprout!

In the Old Testament of the Bible, hyssop is mentioned as an important item during Passover. In Exodus 12:22 it reads “Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. (NIV)” In this passage, Moses is telling the Jews what to do in order to save themselves from persecution. One of these actions includes using hyssop to smear blood around their front doors, so that God knows they are a Holy family and can pass over their homes. That way, they can be safe from the Pharaoh and his plans to eradicate the Jews.

Hyssop is also mentioned in Leviticus as an ingredient to heal skin disease. It states “the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed. (Leviticus 14:4),” suggesting that hyssop was seen as a very important ingredient to help cleanse and heal someone of skin disease.