Blue Lace Flower, Trachymene coerulea.

Blue Lace Flower

Looking for something different in the flower garden this summer?  If you like the looks of Queen Anne’s Lace but not the weedy invasive qualities of the plant you may want to try Blue Lace Flower or Trachymene coerulea. ( formerly  Didiscus Coeruleus). Blue Lace Flower is an old garden flower, an annual grown from seed.  It is native to Australia.  Blue Lace flowers were once popular in English cottage gardens where a common name is Blue Island Daisy.

Blue Lace flower has clusters of lacy looking lavender blue flowers that resemble the flowers of Queen Anne’s Lace. The flowers have a light, sweet scent. The leaves of Blue Lace Flower are finely cut but not as ferny as Queen Anne’s Lace in appearance and are a pleasing blue-green in color.  The plant grows to about 2 feet in height in a nice mounded form.  It may sometimes reseed but is not considered to be invasive.

The Blue Lace Flower prefers full sun.  The seed can be sown where it is to grow after danger of frost or started inside in pots. (Start in peat or other dissolvable pots because the Blue Lace Flower does not like transplanting.) Cover seeds with ¼ inch of fine soil and keep moist.  Be patient, the seeds can take up to 3 weeks to germinate.  It tolerates most types of garden soil.  Blooming starts in mid-summer and continues until a hard frost. 

Blue Lace Flower is a nice addition to the garden bed and it also makes a great cut flower.  It will last a long time in the vase and it is now being grown for the florist trade.  One place to purchase seed is www.selectseeds.com