Love-in-a-Mist (Fennel Flower,
Wild Fennel)
Nigella damascena. RANUNCULACEAE.
Planting and Growing Love-in-a-Mist
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow love-in-a-mist in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of love-in-a-mist
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for love-in-a-mist
- Season of bloom and planting time for love-in-a-mist
- When, how deep, and where to plant love-in-a-mist
- How to plant love-in-a-mist
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of love-in-a-mist
- Landscape and container uses of love-in-a-mist
- Comments about love-in-a-mist and its features
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Growing Love-in-a-Mist
Many cultivars of erect, branching, narrow annual herbs, to 18 in. (45 cm) tall and 10 in. (25 cm) wide. Smooth, shiny, green, strand- or threadlike, divided leaves, to 2 in. (50 mm) long, with 8–12 opposed leaflets, to 3/4-in. (19-mm) long.
Black caraway or black cumin, Nigella sativa, the source of the Indian cooking spice kalanji, is a closely related species with similar care needs.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Many solitary, blue, pink, purple, rose, white, fluffy, very double flowers, to 1-1/2-in. (38-mm) wide, often with layered, pointed petals surrounding green, horned, many-segmented seedpods, in spring–summer, containing edible seeds.
Best Climates
Self-seeding, zones 2–10.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained, sandy or gravelly soil. Fertility: Rich–average. 6.5–7.5 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Spring, zones 2–8, when soil is workable; spring or autumn, zones 9–10, in full sun, 1 ft. (30 cm) apart. Plant successions every 2–3 weeks to prolong bloom.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep moist; allow soil surface to dry between waterings. Fertilize every 2 months. Deadhead to prolong blooms. Protect from heat. Propagate by seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for beds, borders, fillers in cottage, meadow, natural gardens. Seedpods good for drying; flowers and seed are both edible. Pest and disease resistant.