Wispy Whites
Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota), unpretentious beauty of country meadows, captivates even the most sophisticated city gardeners. Why? Because of its creamy flower heads, lacy and gossamer as summer snowflakes. Some resident cultivates them to screen a picket fence, all descended from seeds they gathered. Some grows along with daylilies and grasses for a naturalized landscape. Many gardeners place this biennial wildflower in cutting gardens for their summer bouquets. You can sow the seeds in almost any type of soil in full sun. Later, when the plants bloom, look for a purplish floret at the center of the flower. According to one tale, this represents a drop of blood shed by a legendary queen as she pricked herself while stitching lace.
Baby’s breath forms a cushion for purple spires of salvia
The sight of the old-fashioned perennial baby’s breath (Gypsophila paniculata) in full bloom in summer can be, well, breathtaking. Half close your eyes and it will seem as if a cloud has settled briefly to earth or you are seeing a snow globe in full swirl. The thin threadlike stems smothered in layers of flowers create the immediate impression; then you notice the tiny pure white blossoms. Annual varieties (G.elegans) are quite are quite beautiful too. ‘Bristol Fairy’ boasts double white flowers and spreads to about 2 feet; ‘Compacta Plena’ forms a mini-cloud of bloom under a foot and a half. Plant in full sun and in well-drained, alkaline soil. These seeds too can be direct-sowed, in early spring
Reference: Molly Dean
photo courtesy: shortcourses, farm3.static.flickr
