Name: Daucus carota aka Queen Anne’s Lace

Type of Plant: A biennial plant, meaning that it sprouts and grows one year, blooms the next, and then it dies.   Also called wild carrot because this is the plant that cultivated carrots were developed from. Brought to North America as a medicinal plant by the colonists, now it’s a naturalized wildflower. Yes, it’s listed as an invasive, noxious weed in many states.

Why I Love This Plant: For me, the scent of queen Anne’s lace is the fragrance of summer. I love the look of the flower and the way that bloom forms a cup when the seeds start to develop. I also admire how drought-tolerant the plant is.

A Word to the Wise:  Pick these flowers for bouquets, but be willing to weed them out when they appear where you don’t want them. They show up for our garden parties, and that’s fine as long as they are bringing something to the celebration. But don’t be afraid to say “Thanks for coming, but the party is over!” and pull them up when there are too many in the wrong place.

I see this plant growing in fields where it hasn’t rained in almost two months, so we know that it’s drought tolerant.

The Daucus carota flower is lace come to life.

I’m especially loving how the developing seeds look, as the flower starts to cup and the seeds form.They are like green jewels with white, lacy threads.

How do you tell the difference between Queen Anne’s Lace and the giant hogweed or poison hemlock? You look at the stems and remember that “the queen has hairy legs.”