It looks like Spring is really here! No frost last night and a warm sunny day with a good forecast over the next week.
So – I’ve been searching for signs of young
plants. These plants are biennial so hopefully there will be some young self-sown plants ready to flower this year.
This plant is a real ‘jewel’ in the garden and has an impressive name. It is one of a genus of umbellifers commonly known as ‘Alexanders and grows wild in the UK and Europe. It is said to be edible but I’ve never tried it. It grows to a height of about 2.5ft and has amazing greeny-yellow bract like leaves with green / gold flowers in mid- May. It is a shade plant which is fortunate as it is excellent at lighting up dark corners of the garden.
I’ve grown it now (or rather – it grows itself) for some years under a large tree in the company of Geranium macrorrhizum (see photo above), ferns and hostas. As I said, it is a biennial so I rely on it self seeding and on my not accidentally digging up the seedlings.
It’s unusual for me to grow common wild flowers but this plant is anything but common. I don’t think that, in this form, it is found growing wild in many places in the UK and it certainly not commonly found in retail nurseries, however, I know that seed is available.
I do hope I’ve got some surviving plants and if anyone wants an ‘impact’ plant for a shady place – this is the one!
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