Dill is a feathery green herb with a distinctive tangy, slightly sweet flavor that people use to season food. You've probably tasted it in pickles: dill is the herb that gives dill pickles their characteristic flavor and name. Fresh dill looks delicate, with wispy leaves that branch out like tiny ferns, but its taste is bold and unmistakable.

Cooks add dill to fish dishes, potato salad, cream sauces, and many Eastern European and Scandinavian recipes. Both the leaves (called dill weed) and the seeds can be used in cooking, though they taste slightly different. The seeds have a stronger, more concentrated flavor and are what many pickle recipes call for.

The plant grows tall and thin in gardens, sometimes reaching three or four feet high. If you brush against a dill plant, your hand will smell pleasantly aromatic. Gardeners often plant dill because it's easy to grow and because butterflies love it.