Ammi

Photographs by Sabina Rüber

Ammi majus is one of the most useful annuals of all, and one of those plants that has leapt into fashion recently with the swing to a more natural style of gardening. A more subtle and less invasive form of cow parsley, it is what I call a Botox plant - a filler that can be used to bolster and enhance a summer border, colonising all those unsightly bare patches to give the garden a more fluid look. Its delicate white flowers float in weightless clouds above bulbs and other lower storey plants, or weave effortlessly in and out of taller forms as a linking plant, with small clusters of tiny white flowers that explode outwards on narrow stalks; look at the flower head upside down and marvel at the way nature has constructed it. Its relative A. visnaga has more densely clustered and domed flower heads, like angelica, and therefore offers slightly more visual interest from a distance. Although it grows to about the same height as A. majus, between 75cm and 1.2m tall, it feels meatier and more substantial - less frothy lace and more architecture - and it flowers slightly later. The cultivar ‘Green Mist’ has a greener tinge to its flowers, and looks wonderful with purple or blue larkspur. Both ammis are great for cutting - the type of flowers that don't need any arranging, that will look stunning just shoved in a vase with a few cosmos or nicotiana.

You can sow ammi either in early autumn or early spring. I grow both ammis from seed sown in autumn every year - even though Ammi majus self seeds in my garden I like to have a few plants that I can slot into the border to plug gaps. I also find that the ones I sow in autumn are bigger, sturdier plants than the ones that self seed, flowering earlier. Use modular seed trays or small pots, sowing the seeds singly or in twos per module on the surface of multipurpose or seed compost, covering them with a fine layer of sieved compost. As they get bigger, grow them on in larger pots until you’re ready to sow them outdoors. They don’t need much heat to germinate, but the seed trays will need some protection from the weather, so keep them in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse until the plants are large enough to go outside. They are fully hardy, so can be planted out early in spring. You could also try sowing them direct in early spring for a later summer flowering. Both are easy to germinate and need little attention once in the ground.

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