A Bit of Lace in the Garden

A Bit of Lace in the Garden. July 28, 2025. Lace may come and go in style trends, but nonetheless, continues to boast a large, loyal following of those who appreciate the elegance and refinement it adds. The creamy dainty and intricate designs bring to mind the complex beauty of the snowflake that enchants us with its simplicity at first look, but a closer inspection invites us to see the many, many details that make up its being. I think of the women in the past who made handmade lace and the amount of labor that went into each inch. It was of great value until this delicate art form gave way to industrialization. But we never lost our love of lace and even the industrialized lace continues to charm us . Lace is gives evidence of quality and workmanship, something we see in the family of lace flowers as well.

The Victorians loved lace, and at some point along my gardening journey at Hidden Bluff the garden theme began creeping towards a Victorian look as visions of lacy flowers intermingling with large fragrant roses came to mind. The more the idea played in my mind the more it grew on me. Now one might think it was unwise to add any of the lacy flowers to the garden, and I did consider this, but I scattered the pack of seeds anyway. Seeing the results, I can hardly regret my decision. In any case, it would be futile to try and school me on the subject at this point given my vast experience with weeding on our property. When you’ve had to weed blackberries on a half acre you tend to get hardened to weeding other annoyances.

Real Queen Anne’s Lace vs False

Before adding lace to the garden I would say that in the family of lace flowers it can be difficult to differentiate between the false queen and the genuine as they are quite similar. The real queen often has the characteristic dot of scarlet in the middle of its doily head which also tends to be rounder. Her stem is also hairy. And true to her monarchical name she is also quite invasive and will turn a field into a beautiful flowery mead very quickly. The real queen also has more carrot-y looking foliage, but that is to be expected as she technically is a wild carrot. Genuine or false, the lace flowers are all lovely in their own way. There is even a charming rosy-pink hued version. But do stay away from the highly poisonous hemlock (it tends to be taller than the queen with a smooth, purple-blotched stem).

Eventually, I settled on Ammi Majus also known as Bishop’s Flower or false Queen Anne’s Lace and it is pictured here today. It makes a tall and lovely flower to sprinkle amongst the roses. Bishop’s Flower also makes an excellent cut flower. And it only took a packet of seeds scattered over the soil out front. This was a grow and forget it type flower- the very best kind.

Have a beautiful day!