Umbellifers are plants whose flowers are flat or domed clusters of tiny inflorescenses, primarily in the Apiaceae family. The composite blooms are called umbels. Emanating from short rib-like stalks radiating from a center point, they resemble little umbrellas. Both words derive from the Latin umbella meaning parasol or sunshade.
Many umbellifers make wonderful garden plants, especially in informal settings like rain gardens, meadows, and cottage gardens. Let’s look at a few.
Background
Apiaceae is a huge family with well over 3700 species and 446 genera and native to the Mediterranean, Middle East and China, as well as colder regions like Iceland and Russia. Known informally as the celery family, it included familiar edibles like celery, chervil, anise, parsley, carrot, dill, fennel, lovage, coriander and cumin.
At the other end of the spectrum are water hemlock and poison hemlock, two of the most deadly plants in America. Apiaceae includes a number of noxious weeds and invasives too. A few like Bishops Weed and parsnip can be irritating to the skin, especially if that skin is then exposed to sunlight. Just as with euphorbia and milkweed, wear gloves when working with it if you’re concerned about a reaction.
I’ll be focusing on just a few species grown primarily for their ornamental value. Plenty of umbellifers are perfectly safe to grow. Angelica gigas is a favorite of mine, with its stately height and deep burgundy coloring. Others like Masterwort (Astrantia) are delightfully informal, mixing beautifully with just about everything.
But first, we need to get down in the weeds.
Meadow Umbellifers
When we hear “umbellifer” some of the weedier members of the genus may spring to mind, like Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota), Bishops Weed (Ammi majus) or Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris). I like to call them “meadow umbellifers”. Found in fields, vacant lots and roadsides coast to coast, these non-natives quickly naturalize in disturbed soil. Queen Anne’s lace is probably the best known umbellifer “weed” in the US.
But a weed is, after all, just a plant out of place. Many people love the seeing waves of perky umbellifers along the road on a hot July day, despite their invasive tendencies. Fortunately it’s possible to replicate this look if some care is taken to control seeding.
To be clear, not all umbellifers are “weeds”; far from it. We’ll get to those in a minute. But first, if you want to create an informal effect with airy fillers in midsummer, consider a modest sowing of one or two meadow umbellifers. They might include:
- Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota) in moderation. Yes, it’s considered invasive in 35 states although not Pennsylvania. In a carefully tended setting, I find Queen Anne’s Lace very easy to control. If you’d rather avoid it, see more options below.
- Daucus carota Dara is a striking dusty pink-mauve hybrid of Queen Anne’s Lace that is highly decorative. I hope to have blooms this year from seed sown last August.
- Bishops Weed (Ammi majus). Also known as False Queen Anne’s Lace, Ammi’s greenish-white to white umbels are more uniformly domed and denser than Queen Anne’s Lace, with copious threadleaf foliage. It is often used in wildflower mixes as well as for flowerbeds and rain gardens. Deadhead or cut back to control reseeding. Lovely in the vase, too.
- Cow Parsley hybrids Ravenswing and Golden Fleece. The straight species, Anthriscus sylvestris, isn’t the best choice for Pennsylvania gardens. But two hybrids may tempt you with chocolate and chartreuse foliage. The 3-foot foot tall hybrids have large fernlike foliage and smaller flowers. I am trialing Ravenswing now and will report on it in a future post. For now, I recommend it with caution.
Best for flowerbeds. Prefer something a bit less “weedy”?
- Blue Lace flower (Didiscus or Trachymene caerula). An Australian native with lavender-blue discs up to 5 inches across. Didiscus has been cultivated in gardens since 1828. It reaches 20 inches tall, blooming prolifically from May to September. In zone 6 treat it as an annual. (A good alternative to scabiosa, too.) Who can resist the color!
- Hairy Chervil (Chaerophyllum hirsutum) Roseum. This ornamental form of chervil reaches a maximum of 3 feet tall, often shorter. It has apple-scented foliage and pretty lilac-pink flowers. Roseum makes a pretty filler for front of the border.
- White Lace Flower (Orlaya). Flowering late spring into early summer, orlaya boasts white quarter-size discs resembling candytuft atop ferny, foot-high foliage. It grows easily in a wide range of conditions. The flowers stand out extremely well.
- Yarrow (Achillea). We all know this one. It is not technically an umbellifer, but I am including it because the blooms provide very similar textural interest. A true perennial, yarrow is ideal for full sun or dry, windy conditions. Yarrow offers warm pastel shades as well as chrome yellows and brick reds.
- Don’t Overlook Masterwort (Astrantia). This smaller umbellifer deserves to be better known here. Astrantia is native to Europe where it grows effortlessly, seemingly populating every English border. While rather quiet on its own, when seen up close, each bloom is exquisite in its intricacy. An old-fashioned name for masterwort is Hattie’s Pincushion — very apt!
Astrantia can be a little choosy establishing. I’ve had both success and failure. It hates wet winters, hot summers and full sun, all of which we have in abundance in zone 6. Try giving it damp, humusy soil in part shade, cross your fingers and hope for the best. If it takes, you’ll be delighted, I promise. The penny-sized flowers last from July until frost. Most cultivars are white, pink or garnet. Roma is light pink and easier to find. It makes a pretty mixer for late anemones and phlox.
The Giants
Angelica (Angelica archangelica) is a tall, ancient biennial found wild in China, Russia, Iceland, and Finland. Under cultivation since the tenth century, its past is as colorful as Angelica Giga, a new cultivar sporting burgundy stems and flowers. Both forms are outstanding.
No matter which one you plant, angelica will command attention from curious visitors with its huge flower heads and 5-foot-high frame. Not only is it stunning to look at, its provenance is just as impressive. In medieval times it was consumed as a vegetable, candied, made into jam, used to ward off evil spirits and as a remedy for the Plague! Archangelica is used today to flavor liqueurs as well as some gins.
Angelica archangelica is one of the ‘secret botanicals’ used to flavor spirits like gin, Chartreuse, Benedictine, Vermouth and Dubonnet.
Wikipedia
If you want a conversation starter, grow angelica. (If you can’t find it at a nursery, mail order is your best source). I guarantee your friends will notice. It is tricky to sustain from year to year, however. See below under Growing.
There are other large umbellifers you can grow, like parsnip, lovage and giant milk parsley, but angelica is the probably the most suitable for suburban use. This lovage in my garden got so large I cut it down.
Umbellifer Companions
Design-wise, umbellifers work best with plants of the same shape or strongly contrasting. Mixed umbellifers is soothing, while a sharp contrast creates energy and pop.
Companions might include iris, scabiosa, cornflowers, knautia, allium, globeflower or echinops. Hummingbird mint (agastache) and ammi majus, or Queen Anne’s Lace and daylilies, are go-to pairings that never disappoint. Dream up your own combinations! I love these plants’ versatility. They also make excellent cut flowers for the vase.
You know who else loves umbellifers? Pollinators– especially swallowtail butterflies, wasps and hoverflies.
Umbellifers Are Host Plants
Black tiger swallowtails seek out many Apiaceae umbellifers both for nectar and to complete their lifecycle, making these host plants doubly important in the garden. The butterflies favor all the same edibles we do, like dill, fennel and parsley (can’t blame ’em!) to lay their eggs on. While swallowtails aren’t in as much trouble as monarchs, I prefer to let them do their thing. So before cutting any dill or parsley, take a closer look. Chances are good you’ll find baby caterpillars (instars) on it somewhere.
Identifying Swallowtail Caterpillars
My husband found the orange spicebush swallowtail caterpillar (top middle photo) some years ago. What a hoot! Those aren’t “eyes” at all, just markings to ward off predators. This little guy wasn’t happy to be disturbed, rearing up and trying to scare us off. I’ve no idea if he ever made it to butterfly stage…I hope so!
Growing Umbellifers
Meadow umbellifers like Daucus carota Dara, Blue or White Lace Flower, Bishops Weed, Queen Anne’s Lace and Hairy Chervil all self-seed freely. Deadheading, clay soil, wet conditions, mulch, and a somewhat acidic ph will curtail germination and proliferation of seedlings. Even so, it’s best to put them where a few volunteers won’t pose a problem.
Most don’t transplant well due to their long tap roots, so it’s best to buy seed and direct-sow in lean to average soil in mid to late summer. Some will germinate right away and flower the following summer; a few need winter cold to germinate, delaying flowers until the second spring. Once established, only let a few go to seed each year.
Yarrow is best purchased as young plants. Place them in well-drained, somewhat lean soil with full sun or mostly sun. Rich soil and too much shade can cause flopping. Shear back to refresh the foliage as needed. Coronation Gold is perhaps the toughest cultivar; mine has been going strong going on eight years. But the pastel hybrids are less hardy, often lasting only two seasons.
Astrantia needs moist, humusy loam in part shade, and is usually sold as seedlings or plugs. It’s one of the few umbellifers that prefer such conditions, so it’s extra valuable in that regard. Don’t let astrantia dry out completely for any length of time if you can help it. Astrantia can be slow to establish the first year, so have patience.
Angelica has a reputation for being an unreliable multiplier, setting seed erratically. I found that to be true. Of the two specimens I planted, only one produced a seedling to repeat the cycle the following spring. If I were to do this again I’d buy several plants at once and stagger plantings over two years. I may also try capturing seed in a paper bag and deliberately sowing it and tending it carefully until established. With unreliable cultivars it’s always best to plant in quantity. If you’ve had good luck with angelica, please tell us in the comments.
That’s it for now! I’m in the process of seeding more umbellifers, so I should have photos over the next two years — if they take.
Meanwhile, have fun growing and cutting your own umbellifers. Enjoy the blooms, help the butterflies, and be sure to cut some, too!
I am unable to identify a dainty umbellifer that I see locally( N Wales) not as prolific as others.Height range from about 12 to 18 inches , but can vary; delicate in appearance ,flower heads from 1- 2 inches across and not dense. Very pretty. Thanks
Eryl, thank you so much for your comment. Since you are in North Wales and I’m in the US, I’m not familiar with what this umbellifer might be. If anyone in the UK is reading this, perhaps they can offer a guess.