How to get the wild look

An introduction to the umbellifer family and some unusual plants to seek out

Ammi majus in a wild tangle in my garden, with the claret buttons of Knautia macedonica, mauve Salvia verticillata, a single spire of Verbascum chaixii Album and a red opium poppy, with the plumes of Campanula lactiflora ‘Loddon Anna’ behind.

I wouldn’t be without umbellifers, with those airy, domed flowers that bring such lightness and wildness to a planting scheme. Botanically, the umbellifers embrace a bigger family than you might imagine, including astrantias and eryngiums - but for today I’m focusing on those that are reminiscent of cow parsley, as I’m fascinated by the many different variations you can find, all hailing from different parts of the world. All these plants have lacy domes (or flatter roundels) of tiny white flowers held on a network of intricate radiating stems like umbrella spokes. The undersides of these umbels are often exquisitely beautiful – it’s worth turning them over for a closer look.

The underside of an ammi flower

We wouldn’t necessarily want our native cow parsley itself (Anthriscus sylvestris) to work its way into our borders though. The May hedgerows are full of it, and there is nothing more beautiful and uplifting, but it’s better to keep it there and not allow it to become tangled up in our borders - it’s a wild plant that prefers not to be domesticated. Its close relative, the dark leaved form of anthriscus known as ‘Ravenswing’, is less vigorous and less invasive. I’m trying to establish this among the new planting under the oak tree, just by scattering seeds from my few existing plants.