11 Spices You Can Grow Yourself

Allspice

• Latin Name: Pimenta dioica
• Family: Myrtaceae
• Other Common Names: Newspice, Jamaica pepper, pimenta, pepper, myrtle pepper, pimento
• Native to: Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies
• USDA Zones: 10-12, may grow in 9b if the shelter is provided
• Height: 20-40' tall
• Exposure: Full sun

The allspice tree is dioecious so plan on planting both a male and female variety for fruiting.

To prepare the allspice for cooking, you pick the fruit before it matures and then dry it. They can be used whole or ground into a powder. The flavor will usually be better if the fruits are kept whole and ground up right before use.

The name allspice refers to the fact that it smells like a combination of several different spices including cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and nutmeg.

Annato

• Latin Name: Bixa orellana
• Family: Bixaceae
• Other Common Names: Achiote, urucu, lipstick plant, roucou, lipstick tree, aploppas, colorau
• Native to: Tropics in the Americas
• USDA Zones: 10-11
• Height: 6-30' tall
• Exposure: Full sun

The annatto plant is a shrub or small tree that produces seeds that can be used for cooking and dyeing. Like saffron, annato is often used to add vibrant yellow color to foods like cheeses and butter, as well as substances like lipstick. It is also used to add flavor and is the main ingredient in achiote paste.

Black Pepper

• Latin Name: Piper nigrum
• Family: Piperaceae
• Other Common Names: Common pepper, green pepper, white pepper, orange pepper, red pepper
• Native to: Southern India and Sri Lanka
• USDA Zones: 10-12
• Height: 10-15' long
• Exposure: Full sun (if there is light shade) to part shade

If you are in a tropical location and growing this outside, provide a trellis or other means of support. Those in other climates can grow this in greenhouses or as a houseplant that is taken outdoors during the summer after a period of hardening off. Fruiting may be rare in those raised as houseplants.

Several different kinds of peppercorns are produced on the black pepper liana. The familiar black peppercorns are produced by cooking and drying the immature drupe fruit. You get green peppercorns if you dry the unripened fruit. Once they dry after ripening, they are considered to be white peppercorns. You can also place the red fruit in brine to produce orange or red pepper.

Caper

• Latin Name: Capparis spinosa
• Family: Capparaceae
• Other Common Names: Flinders rose
• Native to: Mediterranean region
• USDA Zones: Unknown
• Height: 1-3' tall
• Exposure: Full sun

The capers we use as spices are flower buds that have been pickled. In some countries, they also pickle the berries. If you live in a cooler region, you can grow nasturtiums, and the seeds can be used as a substitute for capers.

As the species name suggests, these shrubs feature spines. There are varieties available that are spineless for easier picking.

Carob

• Latin Name: Ceratonia siliqua
• Family: Fabaceae
• Other Common Names: St. John's bread
• Native to: Mediterranean area
• USDA Zones: 9-10, sometimes in 8 if a shelter is provided
• Height: 30-50' tall
• Exposure: Full sun to part shade

Carob can be used as a substitute for chocolate when it is ground up. The pods are harvested and dried. They are sweet and are sometimes chewed. If you plan to harvest the fruit you will need more than one tree since the species is dioecious and will have either male or female flowers only.

Cinnamon

• Latin Name: Cinnamomum verum is known as true cinnamon, though several species are used for cinnamon
• Family: Lauraceae
• Other Common Names: Sri Lanka cinnamon, true cinnamon, Ceylon cinnamon, common cinnamon
• Native to: Sri Lanka and India
• USDA Zones: 10-11+
• Height: 20-55' tall
• Exposure: Full sun to part shade

Cinnamon comes from the inner bark of several species of the Cinnamomum genus. If it is not taken from Cinnamomum verum (true cinnamon), it is sometimes known as cassia to denote that fact.

Cloves

• Latin Name: Syzygium aromaticum
• Family: Myrtaceae
• Other Common Names: Clavos de olor, laung
• Native to: Indonesia
• USDA Zones: Unknown
• Height: Can be over 40' tall
• Exposure:

The flower buds on the clove tree are dried in the sun and used for cooking and medicinal purposes. Clove oil is a natural numbing agent and can curb a toothache. It is also sometimes used in cigarettes.

Juniper Berries

• Latin Name: Juniperus spp.
• Family: Cupressaceae
• USDA Zones: Some can go as low as Zone 3
• Height: Varies
• Exposure: Varies

Though the fruits of the different juniper species are called berries, they are actually cones. They can be used whole or ground. Gin is made from the common juniper (Juniperus communis) cones.

Juniper Tree Types: How to Find the Best One

Mace and Nutmeg

• Latin Name: Myristica fragrans is the main species grown for commercial use, though other Myristica species are known as nutmeg.
• Family: Myristicaceae
• Other Common Names: Common nutmeg, fragrant nutmeg
• Native to: Indonesia
• USDA Zones: 10-11
• Height: 10-70' tall
• Exposure: Full sun

Parts of this tree are used in creating two different spices. Nutmeg is made from the seeds and is usually produced and used in powdered form. Mace comes from a reddish aril (covering) surrounding the seed. Both a male and a female tree will be needed for fruit as this is a dioecious species.

Pink Peppercorns

While most types of peppercorns come from the black pepper vine, pink peppercorns come from three other plants. They are the Baies rose plant (shrub), the Brazilian pepper, and the Peruvian pepper (trees).

Peruvian Pepper:

• Latin Name: Schinus molle
• Family: Anacardiaceae
• Other Common Names: False pepper, California pepper, American pepper, Peruvian mastic, escobilla, mastic tree, Peruvian peppertree, molle del Peru, peppercorn tree, pirul, and pepper tree
• Native to: South America
• USDA Zones: 9-11
• Height: 25-40' tall
• Exposure: Full sun

Brazilian Pepper:

• Latin Name: Schinus terebinthifolius
• Family: Anacardiaceae
• Other Common Names: Christmasberry, rose pepper, wilelaiki, Florida holly, aroeira, Brazilian peppertree
• Native to: South America
• USDA Zones: 9-11
• Height: 10-45' tall
• Exposure: Full sun

Baies Rose Plant:

• Latin Name: Euonymus phellomanus
• Family: Celastraceae
• Other Common Names: Spindle tree, cork tree, winged spindlebush
• Native to: China
• USDA Zones: 5-9
• Height: 8-15' tall
• Exposure: Full sun to part shade

Star Anise

• Latin Name: Illicium verum
• Family: Schisandraceae
• Other Common Names: Chinese star anise, star aniseed
• Native to: China and Vietnam
• USDA Zones: 8-11
• Height: 12-60'tall
• Exposure: Full sun to part shade

Star anise fruits are collected right before they mature. The spice part used is the pericarp. It is used in liquors and cooking, especially as an alternative to the anise (Pimpinella anisum) plant. Star anise is also used as a component of the flu medicine Tamiflu.