[JTh]

The riot of colours from spring is gone, but it does not mean that there are no flowers to be seen now. At the moment the white flowers seem to dominate, and this year there seems to be more wild carrots – Daucus carota – than I have ever seen before, maybe as a result of all the rain in June. When you look at the flowers, it is easy to see why it is called Queen Anne’s lace in N. America, but if you scratch the root, the smell of carrots is so strong that you understand that this is the origin of the cultivated carrots.

I must admit it took me quite a while to find out what these plants with the large white flower umbels were; I never saw any good illustrations, so I was a little embarrassed when Arne Strid told me they were just wild carrots. I have to wait to get a good photo of the individual umbels; it was terribly windy today, so it was impossible to get sharp shots, but I think they are really beautiful, and a bit strange with the purplish-black flower in the centre, it looks almost like a small insect.

I wasn’t sure where to present a biennial plant, so I finally decided to place it with the fruits and vegetables

[Umbrian]

Since coming to live in Italy I have come to love this plant Jorun. In the garden here it crops up all over the place, especially in my gravel areas where it looks stunning intermingled with Gaura and Verbena bonariensis. If too prolific it is easily pulled out if caught young. A very wet April, May and early June has seen many things performing better here than for many years and the Spartium junceum that adorns the countryside around us is quite spectacular also Campanula persicifoliar, always present but this year in far greater numbers making it much more noticable.

[JTh]

I suddenly yesterday discovered that the flower heads seem to be following  the direction of the sun, just like the sunflowers, it was obvious when you saw the masses of flowers all turning the same way.

[SusanIbiza]

Thank you for that JTh!  These plants grow in great profusion along the roadside here in Ibiza.  They are in full bloom now and look very attractive when we are out in the car.  We often wondered what they are but we were unable to find out.   

[JTh]

It is always an extra pleasure to know the plants you are looking at, that’s why it’s great to have the Forum.
 
A friend/farmer from the nearest village came to help me with something in the garden today, and he told me that the wild carrot flower in a way symbolizes the development of Man, according to local sayings. At first the flowers were all dark purple, representing the evil of Man, then gradually they became white, and today there is only the little dark flower in the centre left, just like Man became less evil. Maybe an overly optimistic view of the development of humankind, but a nice story.

[John]

Perhaps not all of them have that purity! I love this one that I saw in eastern Crete 2 years ago. It would have been great to collect seed but not possible with a quick visit.
As with Anthriscus sylvestris here in the UK the wild carot if it could be kept under conrtrol or grown in a wild garden would be stunning. Selection could as with so many wild plants produce some interesting forms. This is being done at Great Dixter with Anthriscus sylvestris (cow parsley).

[JTh]

Walking down to the sea for a swim this morning, I discovered one carot plant with dusty pink/mauver flowers, no so unlike yours, John. I'll try to save the seeds, if you are interested and if they have not been removed before the seeds are ripe. Some of the flowers had already started to become bird-cage like.

I had to cheat a little, I picked one of the flowers and stuck it in a Cistus bush, to stabilize the flower in the wind (I was taught how to cheat by John).

[John]

Yes please. Nice.
Pink variants occur in a lot of the white flowered umbellifers. In the UK pink Heracleum sphondylium are quite common.

[JTh]

I will mark the plant.

[Umbrian]

As I think I said in my recent post John, wild carrot is stunning when appearing with other stalwarts in my garden such as Gaura and Verbena bonariensis. A diligent gardener can keep it under control by weeding out unwanted plants. Despite having a tap root they are easily removed even when the growth is quite advanced - as with many similar things you need to hold the stem close to the ground with one hand having gathered the surrounding leaves close to the stem, then with the other hand hold the stem about half way up and pull  slowly but firmly. I use this method with seedlings of Spartium junceum too that appear everywhere and as long as the plants are not too advanced they come up easily.
For me, one of the joys of spontaneous seedlings is the wonderfully unexpected combinations you can get when they appear in places you would never have thought of putting them.

[John]

The other method of control as they use for Anthriscus sylvestris at Dixter is to remove the flower heads when they are over but before they seed. This is also a method of selection as you can leave just those you want seed from.

[Marilyn]

Great to see folk praising the humble wild carrot. It is also very common down here and I agree that it has huge potential as a garden plant. Trying to create a mediterranean herbaceous border is one of the projects I have at the back of my mind as soon as I get my own plot / find a client with a suitable garden and mindset - I think we have some really stunning species which could be combined together to make low- or no-water perennial borders; the fennels and other umbellifers offer excellent candidates. Perhaps a start would be to combine some of these floaty flowers with perennial grasses, good seedhead-makers such as eryngiums, and some more solid, hummocky shapes in between?