Sorrel Bloody Dock Plants

Attractive foliage, easy to grow and young leaves are tasty in salads.  Keep cutting for regular supply of young salad leaf. In need or more herby salad inspiration? Check out our Salad Herb Collection.

• Latin Name: Rumex sanguineus

  Type: Perennial

  Soil Type: Damp soil/ boggy conditions

  Where should I plant this variety? Full sun/partial shade

  How tall does it grow? Approx 70cm

  How much space does it need? Approx 50cm

  When does it flower? Green flowers during summer

  Top care tips: Can be easily divided to provide new plants. Cut back regularly to ensure supply of fresh young leaves

   
  

   
  

  Delivery Information

• Sorrel Bloody Dock is really not as grim as the name might suggest, although the Latin name Rumex sanguineus does sound like a character from the world of Harry Potter. Growing this plant requires no dark arts or complicated incantations - it’s another one of our herbs that is really, really easy to grow and tastes amazing.

  Let’s start with the taste. Word of warning. This plant has a SERIOUSLY strong flavour once the leaves mature. Honestly, if you eat the mature leaf in a salad, it will make you wince a bit (yes, this is from first hand experience). The bitter, lemony flavour within the leaf gets stronger as the leaf ages, so we would recommend cooking the more mature leaves lightly and using as a seasoning. However, the young leaves are much milder and can be chopped into a mixed salad, very much complimenting the dish. Keep cutting the young leaves for regular salad goodness. They say that we eat with our eyes and this fantastic plant adds some colour to the salad bowl. It’s a talking point!

  It’s a transitional green. What do we mean by that? Well it fills a gap in the growing calendar, when a number of crops such as summer salads or that spinach that you sowed isn’t quite ready yet. It serves a fantastic purpose.

  In terms of growth, this plant is bomb proof. It enjoys growing in the sun in slightly wet boggy conditions. Although, our plant has done quite well in very dry, shady conditions!

  If left to its own devices, the plant can get quite tall and architectural. This is not ideal for harvesting flavour but it does look pretty cool in the kitchen garden. We also recommend that it can be used as a rather attractive edging plant.

• Delivery options explained

   

  Pre-order delivery option

  From January to March, customers are able to pre-order herbs for delivery later in spring, to ensure that you receive the unusual varieties that you desire. We begin dispatch of pre-orders from late March, once all items in your order are available for dispatch in one delivery, as some varieties will be available a little later in the year than others. You will receive notification when this dispatch takes place along with tracking information but if you would like an estimated delivery date after placing your pre-order, please do not hesitate to contact us.

  Order Now delivery option

  From late March to autumn, herbs will be available for immediate dispatch subject to their availability. We dispatch our fresh potted herbs Monday-Wednesday each week to avoid postal delays over the weekend. We aim to dispatch all fresh herb orders in less than seven days, i.e. an order placed Thursday-Sunday would likely be dispatched the following Monday. Orders placed Monday-Tuesday, we would aim to dispatch by the Wednesday of that week.

  If you have a specific dispatch date that you would like us to aim towards, please do not hesitate to let us know. We can't guarantee a particular date but will strive to do our best for you.

  Dispatch information

  All orders are dispatched via a next day courier, ensuring that your herbs reach you promptly and in good health. For customers in the Highlands and Channel Islands this is a 48-hour delivery service. (From 2021 onwards we are unable to ship to Northern Ireland.)

  Please note that we do not offer a collection service. Our site is not suitable to receive visitors and this is a rule that we have to apply universally out of respect to our neighbours and family.

   

  Packaging

  
  We aim to reuse packaging as much as possible. Your herbs will be delivered in taupe recyclable pots. We are moving over to using plastic blister cell packaging which contains at least 90% recycled content and is itself 100% recyclable. These things are important to you and are important to us.
  
  

  Customer satisfaction

  Occasionally due to circumstances beyond our control, problems can arise. If you are not satisfied in the condition of your plants upon reaching you, please contact us as soon as possible providing pictures so that we can deal with your enquiry and feedback to our courier service. We will endeavour to ensure a resolution is reached that leaves you satisfied.