Chocolate Laceflower

Chocolate laceflower is a selection of wild carrot (Queen Anne's Lace) with the same flat-topped umbel flower heads but in rich chocolate-brown and burgundy rather than white — one of the most useful fillers available to the cutting garden. The flowers add both texture and a deep, warm tone to summer arrangements that white laceflower cannot provide. It is easy, direct-sown, and self-seeds readily.

Direct sow in early spring as soon as the soil can be worked — it germinates in cool soil. Cut stems when about three-quarters of the florets in the umbel are open; the flowers continue to develop and the head holds for 7–10 days. The stems develop a mild carrot scent when cut.