Gardening Interview Question:

What can you tell me about the blue lace plant? It looks like Queen Anne's-lace, except it's sky blue. I was told that it grows wild in northern Alabama and into Tennessee, and fields of it are just mowed down.

Submitted by: Administrator

Blue laceflower (Trachymene coerulea) is listed in older references by its former name, Didiscus coeruleus. It is a member of the carrot family, Apiaceae, and has finely divided leaves on slender, branching, erect stems. The small flowers are in rounded umbels two or three inches across, held aloft on stems one to two feet high. The lacy flower does resemble that of Queen Anne's-lace, but is pale blue or lavender. The species is a native of Australia and the islands of Southeast Asia, and our references make no mention of it being naturalized in the United States. Catalogs tout it as a cut flower. It is a sun-loving annual or biennial that does best in porous, well-drained soil of moderate fertility. In greenhouses, blue laceflowers can bloom from fall to late spring. Seeds are available from several retail mail-order companies.
Submitted by: Administrator