Umbelliferae in the Garden

There is also a red-tinged variety available, normally named 'Rubra', but named red varieties include 'Lars' and 'Rosensymphonie'. The plants are variable, and so are the names that go along with them.

Sea Holly Eryngium planum is possibly the most surprising family member at all. Usually this one is associated with thistles, since they are spiny in flower and seed, and have a blue-grey tinge all over. However, the flowers held in umbels point towards it's true genetic heritage.

Sea Holly makes a great addition to a sunny border, especially if you like to make dried arrangements with your flowers. Adventurous gardeners will always give this one a try...

Then there is Eryngium Foetidum, also known as Ketumbar Jawa. It's leaves apparently have a 'bug-like' taste. Mmmm.

Cow Parsnip Heracleum's are also known as Giant Hog Weed, which is perhaps a more interesting name. Both allude to it's giant size, and favour among grazing animals.

Cow parsnip looks similar to Angelica, but is fuzzier in leaf, and larger in flower head. They are also more shade-tolerant, and tend to thrive on wet soils around streams and lakes.

Lovage Levisticum is delicious in salads, and has a very striking ornamental appearance. To 6 feet tall or more, this bright green, jaggedy-leaved plant sends up lime-green umbels of flowers for most of the summer. It makes a stunning plant at the rear of a herb garden, and tends to stay fairly narrow despite it's great height.

Oenanthe Moisture-loving plants with a rapidly spreading, growth habit. This ones makes a lovely groundcover in wet locations with only a little sunshine. The 5-foot Oenanthe sarmentosa is native to B.C. and south to Oregon, so they are at home in the Pacific Northwest. There is a variegated variety with light green, pink and white leaves and a dwarf habit of only 2 feet tall.

Oenanthe is also the genus name of a bird named the Wheatear, and a websearch turns up alot of ornothilogical pages on them. I could find no pictures of the plant Oenanthe on the internet, but will scan in a leaf sample very soon to place here...

Alexanders Smyrnium olusatrum is an old-fashioned addition to the garden, especially fanciful for those wishing to recreate Shakespearean gardens, and gardens to ward off the black plague.

This one grows to 4 feet tall, has very stout leaves, and flowers on tight umbels of flowers only 4 inches across.

Round-leaved Alexanders (S. rotundifolium) is an

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