Plant ABCs: Love in a Mist

It’s L for Love in a Mist!...In today's Plant ABC Series that introduces you to the wild world of plants.

Meet Nigella damascena, commonly called love-in-a-mist, or devil-in-the-bush by a cheekier crowd. This is one of my very favorite annual flowers that easily reseeds itself in your garden with no effort at all. You’ll find the flowers come in shades of blue, purple, pink and sometimes white. I find their flower form to be stunningly beautiful. N. damascena is a member of the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae and plants produce a profusion of lovely black seeds inside striking dry pods.

Depending on where you live, plants can bloom very early spring into early summer, as they do for me here in Texas, or may be a summer bloomer for you in cooler climates. Plants drop seed in summer and fall. In my area seedlings emerge in late summer and fall, then begin blooming in late winter early spring. These are easy wildflowers you can throw seed out into areas you don’t do any garden maintenance. Once you have an established population you can save plenty of your own seed.