The case of the mysterious tarragon

I mentioned in my last post that I was concerned that the tarragon I seeded wasn’t actually tarragon. I’m still very confused.

This is tarragon:

This is what’s growing from the tarragon seeds I planted (bordered by dill above and parsley to the right):

Here is a shot of the container next to my seeds. The plants are definitely not identical but also aren’t so completely different from one another:

Look at the leaves side by side (store bought plant is on bottom):

See what I mean? Is it or isn’t it tarragon? The one I’m growing is much lighter and a bit less fleshier than the plant from the nursery.

A taste test has also been somewhat inconclusive. I asked recipe editor, Amy Machnak, to chew on a few leaves I plucked from the plants I grew without telling her what she was eating. She (very trustingly) munched away and said she was getting hints of “tarragon, spinach, and arugula.” OK, so it seems that these plants are more tarragon that anything else, but I’m perplexed at their lack of delicious tarragon flavor and their odd appearance. Did I buy bad seeds? Is it something in their growing conditions? Has anything like this ever happened to you, dear gardeners?