By Kim Willis These articles are copyrighted and may not be
copied or used without the permission of the author.
Whether you call it
Love in a Mist, Devil in the Bush, Love-Entangle,
Jack-in-Prison, Bride in Hair , Lady in the Green, or one of
its many other common names, Nigella
damascena is
an interesting plant for the garden. If
you like blue flowers, cut flowers, easy cottage garden plants, or plants for
dried flower arrangements Nigella is the plant for you.
Nigella is native to southern Europe, northern Africa and
southwest Asia. It was being grown in
English gardens by 1570, where several cultivars were developed over the
centuries. Thomas Jefferson grew it in
his gardens at Monticello and the famed garden architect Gertrude Jekyll used
it in her cottage garden designs.
Nigella has odd threadlike leaves, airy and fern like,
especially at the top surrounding the flowers.
The “Mist” portion of one of its common names come from the way the
leaves look surrounding the flower. It grows 12-18 inches high but each plant
is narrow. They look best grown in
masses, which also keeps them from flopping.
They have a taproot. Plants are
short lived but in longer growing seasons they often reseed and a second
generation will bloom in the same year.
The species has true blue colored 5 “petal” 1 inch
flowers but cultivated varieties have larger flowers with more layers of petals
and also come in rose, pale pink, white and several shades of blue. The petals of Nigella are actually its
sepals; the true petals are hidden in the center of the flower, under the
stamens. The flowers are surrounded by
the ferny leaves, a pretty “misty” backdrop for each one. The flowers are good
cut flowers and were often used in bridal arrangements or in a bride’s hair, accounting
for another common name.
Flowers turn into 5 chambered seed pods which look like
little red or purple striped balloons.
The pods have “horns “ on top and bristles along the sides. They can be
dried for flower arrangements. Children
enjoy popping them like popping bubble wrap.
The pods are filled with tiny black seeds.
Growing
nigella
Nigella is a fast growing annual so almost all gardeners
can grow it. It prefers full sun and
well-drained soil but is not particularly fussy about soil pH or texture. In the wild it is often found in rocky
areas. It will tolerate dryness but
grows better when watered moderately. It
is said to be deer resistant. The plants
have no insect or disease problems. Bees
are attracted to the flowers.
If you want to grow Nigella you’ll probably have to start
with seeds. They are available from many
heritage type nurseries, a couple links are provided at the bottom of the
article. You can start them inside about
6 weeks before your last frost or plant the seeds where you want them to grow
in early spring. They can be sown in the
fall in the garden for spring germination too.
Seed should be sown on top of the soil and lightly pressed into it.
Most references say that Nigella does not transplant well
because of its taproot. I sow several
seeds in paper cups, (you could use peat pots), inside in late spring then
transplant the whole pot into the garden with great success. Plants will bloom in about 3 months from
seed.
If you are not interested in the attractive seed pods you
may want to keep the nigella plants dead headed so they don’t spread too much
in the garden. I don’t find them
invasive and I save some seed to start inside each year just in case. Other
gardeners have reported that nigella shoots those tiny seeds into the wind and
plants come up everywhere.
If you want to save the seed pods cut them before they
are fully ripe. Put the green pods in
paper bags to dry in a warm place. Your
car sitting in the sun is a good location.
After they are dry many people spray them with clear hairspray or a
craft spray to help preserve them.
I plant nigella in my cutting garden, beside the
bachelor’s buttons, 4 o’clocks, zinnias and cosmos. They will blend well in informal cottage
gardens. Keep them to the front so you
can admire the unique looking flowers.
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| Nigella seed pods |
Herbal
and other uses of nigella
Love in a Mist is a close relative of black cumin, Nigella sativa, whose seeds have
culinary uses like poppy seeds. Some
references claim that Nigella damascene seeds can be used the same way and that they
taste like nutmeg. The seeds are pressed
and made into an essential oil that is used in perfumes and possibly has
medicinal uses. It is said to smell like
strawberry jam.
Nigella
sativa has some uses in herbal medicine but it’s unclear if
Love in a Mist, Nigella damascene can
be used the same way. Some references
list the seeds and oil of Love in a Mist as toxic when ingested. When I was reading up on the plant in herbal
references it was often clear that the two species had been confused. I would suggest growing the plant for its
flowers and seed pods and not for culinary or medicinal use.
Here are some sources for buying nigella
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