This common name covers two Genus of this plant, Ammi majus and. Dausus carota is a biennial . It has a rich history of being used as a plant that can help bring the beneficial insects to help balance our systems.
Having Queen Anne’s Lace in your garden can offer several benefits. Here are some of them:
- Ornamental Value: Queen Anne’s Lace is a beautiful flowering plant that adds visual appeal to your garden. Its delicate, lacy white flowers and fern-like foliage create an elegant and whimsical appearance.
- Attracts Pollinators: The abundant flowers of Queen Anne’s Lace attract various pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects. These pollinators play a crucial role in fertilizing other plants in your garden, promoting healthy ecosystems and enhancing overall biodiversity.
- Wildlife Habitat: Queen Anne’s Lace can provide habitat and food for wildlife. Birds may use the plant as a source of nesting material, and small animals may find shelter among the foliage.
- Soil Improvement: Queen Anne’s Lace has a taproot that can reach deep into the soil, helping to break up compacted earth and improve drainage. When the plant eventually dies and decomposes, it enriches the soil with organic matter.
How to Germinate
Spread your seeds on prepared, moist, well-drained and fertile soil where you want to grow them and gently mist water. Plants to ideally grow 50cm apart.
When to Sow: March, April May, June, September, October (Southern hemisphere)
Growth Height: Approx. 90-150cm
Position: Sunny
Garden Benefits
When interspersed throughout your garden, the beautiful Queen Anne’s Lace flowers can attract a range of beneficial insects to your garden due to their pollen and nectar-producing flowers.
Following are examples of insects that will come and what they will do to help you!
Lacewings: Sometimes called “Aphid Lions,” lacewing larvae feed on aphids, mites, and other tiny pests.
Ladybugs: are beautiful additions to your garden and lay larvae that will eat pests.
Hoverflies: Adults look like little bees that hover and dart around (but don’t sting) and who lay little caterpillar-like larvae that feed on aphids, mealybugs, and other tiny pests.
Parasitic Mini-Wasps: A variety of non-stinging insects that lay their eggs in the bodies of insect pests, killing things like moth eggs, caterpillars, and fly larvae.
Assassin beetles: Assassin bugs are predatory insects that feed on other bugs. While these insects can benefit the garden as a form of natural pest control, they inflict painful, venomous bites if provoked.
