Don't be fooled. Inside this thin coating of sweetness is a fiery core of total insanity.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Another Self-Sowing Annual

Nigella damascena is another self-sowing annual that I have in abundance, and in great variety, in my garden this year. I sowed seeds in early spring over a year ago, and left the plants over the winter to drop their seeds. This spring they've sprouted like mad.

I don't remember having this many different colors last year. I wonder if they are as promiscuous as columbine?

This light blue is most common

There's also a very dark, midnight blue.



There's a white one with a ring of blue in the center

And there's a pretty, very girly pink

This one has sowed itself into the gravel next to my Agave 'Blue Glow.'

They work well as companions to my self-sown California poppies.

The bees love them too!

The seedpods are great in flower arrangements, and when dry, they split open at the top and hundreds of tiny black seeds spill out.

They remind me of a jester wearing a tutu

Nigella seeds are used in cooking, but those come from Nigella sativa. Some common names are Love-in-a-Mist, Devil-in-a-Bush, and Persian Jewels. I started growing them from seed many years ago, when I first started gardening. It amused me to have a plant with a name similar to my husband's, Nigel.

I grow Alyssum too, which is a bit like my own name, but they don't seem to come in so much variety. Hmmm...I wonder what the takeaway from that bit of info is.