Parsley is like some standup comics—we don’t pay it enough respect. The use of the herb as a garnish for plates harks back to the Caesars, when the chlorphyll-containing plant was munched by lunching Romans to freshen their breaths. Medieval herbalists prescribed parsley poultices for arthritis. A 16th-century herbalist wrote: "Powder your hair with powdered parsley seed three nights every year and the hair will never fall off." Modern herbal practitioners may suggest parsley-seed tea (a diuretic) to treat high blood pressure or congestive heart failure, while contemporary cooks use lots of parsley for pesto. If you enjoy this biennial’s intense color and crisp foliage, plant it as a neat green border around your garden plot. But don’t be tempted to harvest wild parsley—the blooming herb can be confused with the potentially deadly water hemlock or fool’s parsley.