Sunday, November 17, 2013

Ammi majus 'bon ami'

Ammi majus under-planted with Alyssum (Lobularia maritima)
A good friend for the garden by attracting beneficial insects and helping get the biodiversity right, Ammi majus is in flower now along with its equally useful friend Alyssum. These two are often combined in seed mixtures of 'all white flowers' or in special 'good bug' mixed packs. Seed planted in autumn or during winter can be given any odd spot in the garden or simply grown in pots. They are not fussy about soil and will still flower even if the conditions are not particularly good such as with variable weather conditions or low soil fertility. This is a polite way of saying they can be a little on the weedy side and will come up in the cracks of pavement given half the chance.
I hesitate to use the common name Queen Anne's Lace for this plant as it can be easily confused with the other plant of that name Daucus carota which has more ferny foliage and more cream coloured flowers. Both these plants belong to the Apiaceae family which includes the vegetables carrots and celery.


1 comment:

  1. I love this plant - I used to have it but it eventually didn't come up any more. I recently bought new seeds. I also used to grow Ammi visagna, which was a bit more compact. Some of them occasionally still reappear.

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