FLOWERS A-Z: Q IS FOR QUEEN ANNE’S LACE

Welcome back, summer flower lovers! As you might imagine, some letters of the floral alphabet are easier than others. Like so many Scrabble players, when faced with a “q,” things can get a little dicey. Lucky for us, the gorgeous Queen Anne’s Lace is right in the pocket of the season and happens to be rather lovely. So today, “q” is for Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota, if we are getting Latin and technical).

Queen Anne’s Lace is essentially grown all over the world, although it is native to temperate regions in Europe and Asia. In the United States, you might be as likely to find it cheerfully growing on the side of a freeway as you are in a formal English garden. A perennial favorite with flower consumers who feel it epitomizes the “wildflower” look, Queen Anne’s Lace is actually a form of wild carrot root (and if you cut the stem, you may notice that it has an earthy, carrot-like smell). As with so many flowers and plants, Queen Anne’s Lace was used by ancient Greeks and in Chinese culture for medicinal purposes. The crushed seeds from the flower were thought to be an effective form of birth control. Modern studies have indicated that the seeds do appear to interfere with both progesterone synthesis and ovum implantation. The use of Queen Anne’s Lace comes with heavy warnings for practitioners — the flower looks almost identical to a highly toxic little flower called hemlock!

Queen Anne’s Lace is ideal for casual summer decorating. As seen above, you can simply gather a few stems into wine bottles and have yourself a darling element to accompany dinner, a bedside table or a window sill. But here at Flowers A–Z, we like to kick it up a notch. 

Ah, the classic Ball jar (also known as a mason jar). What farm table would be complete without a Ball jar stuffed with blooms that look “just gathered” from a field? Whether you have a summer home in Lonavala or a studio apartment in Mumbai where you have to vault over the bed to get to the kitchenette, Queen Anne’s Lace in a mason jar should be your go-to.

And, there it is. Be sure to clean the stems of the blooms that will fall below the water line. Especially in a clear vase, you want to make sure the water is fresh and transparent and that there is no floating foliage. A gorgeous spray of Queen Anne’s Lace looks simply perfect when paired with a bright wildflower like cosmos. I like to cluster the cosmos throughout the sea of Queen Anne’s Lace.

Now for an arrangement with a little more heft. I selected a mustard ceramic bowl with a wide mouth; I just love the happy color of this container and will choose other vivid colors to play off the yellow. The plan is to include a variety of blooms to fill the generous space in the vessel.

I began here with some soft dusty miller. I love the gray color with the yellow and feel the stiff nature of the stems will create a nice grid structure for our arrangement. I believe the key to easy floral design is establishing a solid structure into which you can place any flower.

Once you have established your dusty miller structure, you can add any other wildflowers that appeal to you. Here, I used cosmos, zinnia, veronica, and some button-like echinacea pods. The great thing about working with Queen Anne’s Lace is that it fills in quite nicely. You can be very budget conscious and only use a select few “face” flowers, while the Queen Anne’s Lace does the remaining royal work.

Experiment by starting with masses of Queen Anne’s Lace only and then adding the other flowers as accents versus adding it at the end. You may find it easier to place blooms inside the framework of lace!

The fragile snowflake look of the Queen Anne’s Lace softens the sharp lines of the zinnia and veronica.

Whether you choose a carefree approach of simply plunking your flowers in a glass jar or spend a little time crafting a masterpiece, enjoy the summer floral season. Wildflowers are especially fabulous this time of year. Join me back here  when “r” will be for . . .

FLOWERS A-Z: D IS FOR DUSTY MILLER

Hello, flower fans! For this round of Flowers A–Z, I have selected a delicate adornment, as opposed to a traditional bloom: dusty miller (senecio cineraria).

The color and texture of dusty miller, with its silvery soft, felt-like leaves make the perfect complement to either muted or bold-hued flowers. Dusty miller is native to arid climates like Africa and the Mediterranean and is available year-round in most places. It can bloom on the plant with little yellow blossoms, but the ornamental leaves are the true stars, in my view.

Today I will use dusty miller with single-flower arrangements, but it is highly versatile and can be used as a “green” or accent in a mixed arrangement just as easily.

You can see that a simple grouping of dusty miller alone would make a lovely arrangement.

Or a little bud vase with just a few sprigs to accompany some hors d’oeuvres at your next gathering?

Below I will feature three different pairings for dusty miller. The first is a sophisticated classic — gorgeous blood-red black baccara roses with dusty miller.

Select a “showpiece” vase for this arrangement, something crystal or cut glass.

Gather a grouping of chunky roses in a bold color. They don’t have to be roses and they don’t have to be red, but try using a very round-shaped bloom in a saturated hue to contrast with the pale gray.

Make sure the roses are cleaned well, stripped of all thorns and every last leaf, and as always, cut at an angle with a sharp implement. For this arrangement, you can place the roses in the vase individually, creating a structure as you go, or you can cheat and simply create a bouquet in your hand, measure against the vase, cut the stems and plunk right in the water!

Dusty miller can have some stray leaves toward the bottom of the stems, which you can strip if they are going to fall below the water line.

After you have arranged or “plunked” your gathering of roses in the vase, begin to tuck individual stems around the roses to form a “collar” all around the vase. I prefer the roses in a tight “pave-style” modern cluster in an arrangement like this.

The great majesty of the red roses is highlighted by the soft, gray collar.

I truly love this contrast.

View from above — you can see that I have arranged the roses at slightly varying heights (even within basically the same plane) to lend a bit of texture and movement to the arrangement.

The second pairing is dusty miller with a “dusty” terra-cotta container and “dusty” purple roses.

This design is so simple — just use the gathering of dusty miller to fill the container and place the roses among the leaves. These roses appear to be growing from the dusty miller. This look has a country-garden feel.

Pale and calming hues.

The last pairing is dusty miller with wild and spiky blue thistle. The soft dusty miller leaves juxtaposed with the sharp, electric blue thistle create an unusual look. Be careful handling the thistle. Grab the stems toward the bottom and avoid touching the bristles! Do make an effort to clean the excess leaves from the stems that will fall below the water line.

Tuck the thistle in patches in and around the dusty miller. Here, you might experiment with a looser shape. I have kept it more controlled in my design, but play with the thistle (or any similar wildflower) to see if you like some taller pieces pulled up from the dusty miller.

Love this “cool” palette.

Be sure to meet back here in tomorrow when “e” will be for . . .