Celery
Apium graveolens
Also called Celeriac
Garden plant · Herbs, veg & fruitIt wants a bog. Let it dry once and the stalks turn stringy and bitter for good.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Very hard
- Water
- Every dayWater the ground — water at the base, in the morning, not over the leaves.
- Light
- Sun to part shade
- Feed
- Once a fortnight
- Humidity
- High
- Hardiness
- Hardy — a very cold winter RHS H6, to -20°C
- Size
- 0.3 m tall · 0.3 m across
- Lifecycle
- Biennial
- Origin
- Mediterranean
Is it safe for pets and people?
PetsNothing recorded against it
No animal-poison authority lists this plant either way.
PeopleIrritates skin
Sap on skin in sunlight. Safe to eat: the stalks.
HandlingTake care handling it
Sap plus sunlight burns skin — cover your arms when cutting it.
Checked against ASPCA, RHS and Johnny's Selected Seeds on 2026-07-31.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- Small sunken brown spots freckled with black pinprick dots on the oldest outer leaves, spreading inward after a wet spell and long before the stalks are marked.Celery leaf spot · disease
- Pale blistered blotches between the veins of a lower leaf that go papery and brown, with a grub showing as a dark speck when the leaf is held to the light.Celery leaf miner · pest
- A round flower stem rising from the centre of a plant well short of size, weeks after a cold snap soon following planting out.Bolting · disorder