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Queen of the roadside
(by Gina M. Mahon - August 20, 2008)
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Photo By Gina M. Mahon
The umbel of the Roadside Queen Annes's Lace cups as it matures.
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“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” which goes along with “one gardener’s weed is another’s wildflower!”
Yes, for sometime now gardeners have forsaken the wildflower, placing it instead in the ‘weed’ category. Let’s face it, if it is invasive, whether slightly or extremely, we tend to call it a weed. But there are many perennials, which as gardeners, we desire and plant that are also just as invasive. For example, take Hemerocallis, commonly known as daylilies. You not only see it growing wild along a roadside or woody section but in just about everyone’s garden where a native/natural look is desired. It’s just that for most perennials, we are more vigilant at maintaining our garden beds.
So today I would like you to think about your grandparents’ garden, which contained what we now call heirloom flowers, wild flowers and ‘the roadside weed.’ In particular, Daucus carota, variety, Ammi majus, known as ‘Roadside Queen Anne’s Lace,’ Birds-Nest, or Wild Carrot. Native to Europe this wildflower is now found throughout the Northeast and much of the Western part of the .
Queen Anne’s Lace emerges in May and blooms from July through October usually dying with the first frost of the season. This is a biennial with the first year’s growth of delicate looking fern-like foliage in a rosette form at its base. The second year the flower stalk appears, growing between one to three and one half feet tall and topped with an umbel (flower cluster whose stems grow from a single point) of flat, lace-like white flowers. In the center of all these white flowers is a single dark brown/purple flower. When mature, the umbel curls inward looking like a bird’s nest.
Queen Anne’s Lace, when picked, has the aroma of a carrot and no wonder, this plant is the ancestor of the garden carrot from Europe. There are a couple of other varieties besides the ‘Roadside’ available. ‘Green Mist Ammi’ has a mint green tint to the white flowers and grows between three and four feet tall. If you want a real giant, ‘Graceland Ammi’ grows between four and five feet tall with flower widths of five to six inches across! All have a very long, thin taproot and is therefore not easy to transplant if grown in a rocky area.
I have yet to see it sold in garden centers but seeds are available from jungseeds.com. Because it is a wildflower, it is not very picky as to where it grows. It is quite adaptable and will tolerate dry, sunny conditions and poor soil as well as good soil and moisture! As I said, it is a biennial readily reseeding itself so you will still have flowers every year.
To cut down on too many new plants, simply deadhead some umbels as they begin to mature and curl into their bird nest shape. Plant it in drifts with coneflowers, cosmos, Black-Eye Susan and chicory. Wildflowers need such little care, so why not step back in time and plant a wildflower/meadow garden, and why not begin with the ‘Queen!’
Remember – there can never be enough flowers, so enjoy!
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