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My favorite plant

Ammi%20majus.JPG Ask me about my favorite plant and depending on the day of the week, you'll get a different answer. I'm so fickle! I'm constantly falling in love with a new little beauty. Today, it's White Bishop's Lace (Ammi majus).

My fascination with sun-loving WBL started last year when I drooled all over a gorgeous photo in Fine Gardening magazine. I wondered if they'd be easy to grow from seeds, so I picked up a packet at the Longwood Gardens plant shop this spring. The answer is yes! I planted the seeds on May 24 and they started blooming last week.

WBL looks like a regal and refined Queen Ann's Lace, but its flowers are much larger. The 4 to 5 inch pure white and perfectly formed blossoms look like fireworks on the fourth of July. And the foliage is airy and delicate. I don't even mind that they droop and flop after a rain--it just adds to their charm.

I cut one bloom to bring indoors and it's a stunner in a small green glass vase! This lovely 3 foot tall annual starts blooming in spring and doesn't stop till a fall frost ends its Queenly reign.

The picture above on the right, by the way, is one flower.

Here's a picture of a group of WBL...

Bishop%27s%20Lace-1_1.jpg

The pictures don't really capture their charm or lovely foliage. They're much more beautiful in person.

Do you have a gardening question? Call our Master Gardeners hortline at 610-690-2671 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 AM-12 NOON.

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marionyaglinski.jpg

Marion Yaglinski has nurtured an ever-evolving garden on her own little acre in Southeastern Pennsylvania since 1992. Her property in Delaware County is certified by the National Wildlife Federation as an official Wildlife Habitat. She is a Master Gardener with Pennsylvania State University's County Extension Program in Delaware County and also volunteers at Longwood Garden’s plant shop.


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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on June 28, 2007 10:46 AM.

The previous post in this blog was Grow Native!.

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