Create a frothy picture!
‘Some umbellifers have intricately detailed flowers, which become more complex as your eyes move in’ Not only do umbels add effervescence to the garden, they’re fascinating in close up
I’m not a great fan of favouritism; it can be very negative to choose one person, one plant or one family of plants to the exclusion of all others. Yet when it comes to the latter, there’s one family of plants that I come back to time and time again.
It’s a broad family and it includes vegetables, herbs and wild flowers as well as a wealth of ornamental plants. It’s the umbel family, now known as Apiaceae. They play a hugely important part in the garden at Glebe Cottage and never more so than during May. Not only do they add effervescence to the garden from a distance, but they are also fascinating in close up.
Some umbellifers have intricately detailed flowers. They can be seen on many levels, becoming increasingly more complex as your eyes move in – like a selection of frames from a film, they yield different realities within the same head of flower.
From a distance Anthriscus sylvestris, cow-parsley or Queen Anne’s lace, makes a fine, frothy picture, full of creamy softness. Closer up, with the whole flower head in frame, you’re aware of its structure, of the individual stems all emanating in a starburst from the summit of the main stem and each supporting its own smaller umbel of flowers.
You can move closer still to study each perfect flower. The parent plant might be too ebullient for a small garden but Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’, with bronze leaves, is lovely. In early spring its low, dark, ferny foliage makes the perfect foil for spring bulbs. The plant gradually grows into a branching, waist-high individual, each branch terminating in the familiar white umbels.
Chaerophyllum hirsutum
‘Roseum’ is a graceful plant. Its pale purple-pink flowers are perfectly partnered by soft rich-green leaves on dark crimson stems. It’s happiest in dappled shade, although it’ll flourish out in full sun providing it has moist soil. Pimpinella major ‘Rosea’ is a smaller, daintier plant than chaerophyllum. It’s the pink-flowered version of a British native.
In contrast, if you want something big and bold try
Angelica gigas from the Far East. It looks quite ordinary in its early stages but is transformed as its flower stems shoot up into a riot of crimson.
Orlaya grandiflora has platforms of dreamy, creamywhite flowers. Around each umbel are a series of larger sterile florets designed to attract insects. They’re equally attractive to gardeners with whom the plant has become increasingly popular in recent years. Its foliage is ferny and light and the perfect background for the dainty umbels. Smyrnium perfoliatum is an underused umbel, just as showy as the euphorbias which light up our springtime gardens now. Being a biennial it has a short life expectancy but plants will seed around year after year. Selinum wallichianum, though, is in for the long haul. We still have plants that went in 15 years ago. It combines strength and structure with delicate refinement. Though it won’t flower until the end of summer, its ferny leaves are already a delight.