With its subtle spring colour and fragile beauty, cow parsley brings exuberance to garden displays
“Again rejoicing nature sees Her robe assume its vernal hues: Her leafy looks wave in the breeze, All freshly steep’d in morning dews.” Robert Burns, ‘Song Composed in Spring’
“Bountiful, beautiful, apparell’d gay, Whose mantle, every shade of glancing green, Flies back in fragrant breezes to display A tunic white as May!” Alfred Lord Tennyson, ‘The Progress of Spring’
A froth of delicate creamy-white umbels and fernlike foliage spills out of a large rustic basket. It adds a burst of spring colour and gentle aniseed fragrance to enjoy from a sunny spot.
Armfuls of cow parsley and long grasses create a natural runner. Lush and fulsome, it tumbles over the table in a simple but stunning centrepiece for an outdoor gathering.
The bold papery petals of anemones are paired with an effervescent spray of cow parsley in a pottery vase.
Spice jars or other small glass containers can be grouped together for a miniature display of fine-stemmed floral clusters.