The honey clover is a biennial plant belonging to the Fabaceae (legume) family that grows in the wild all over the world. There are some common varieties growing in the wild and human-bred cultivars present in Europe, too. The white melilot, as the plant is also called, is particularly valued for its melliferous capabilities, yet it is also used as forage crop. It also enriches the soil with nitrogen after ploughing into the soil. The Bokhara clover or white sweet clover - another common names of the plant - is also considered a medicinal plant. Honey clover owes its characteristic, strong fragrance to coumarin content. Honey made of honey clover nectar is pale and delicately sweet, while its aroma is being described as vanilla-like. Please note that honey clover produces nectar even during periodic droughts. It blooms long, providing the bees with food and raw material for honey production. The green forage of honey clover plants has high nutritional value, although not all animals like it.

Honey clover (Melilotus albus) grows 150 - 200 cm tall. Its naked stem is erect and covered with small, ovate leaves with hairy stipules are gathered in groups of three. Butterfly-shaped blooms are gathered in clusters atop the stalks. Honey clover fruit take on form of a one-seed or two-seed pod. These plants develop broad and deeply reaching root systems. Similarly to other Fabaceae plants the sweet clover lives in symbiosis with Rhizobium bacteria that fix nitrogen.

Honey clover is rather undemanding in regard to the soil and grows well on all kinds of soil, including sandy and gravel soils. It prefers, though, calciferous soils and sunny, moderately moist sites. It is resistant to drought and low temperatures. You may sow it on fallows and industrial wastelands.

Honey yield: 400 - 600 kg/ha
Seed rate: 15 - 20 kg/ ha

One package contains 5 kg of honey clover seeds. The sow-by date has been printed on the package label.

• Height: 150 - 200 cm
• Use: melliferous plant; fodder - grazing; medicinal plant
• Growth form: erect
• Flower colour: white
• Vegetation form: biennial
• Foliage: small, ovate leaves with hairy stipules
• Flower type: Butterfly-shaped blooms gathered in clusters
• Site: sunny; calciferous, moderately moist garden soil
• Weight: 5 kg