Love-in-a-mist Persian Rose Seeds - Nigella damascena

Love-in-a-mist 'Persian Rose' which also goes by the name Nigella damascena, is a variety with pink flowers that produces curious fruit in the form of round, papery, dark-coloured capsules, decorated with very fine 'hair'. The delicate flowers are nestled in a very airy foliage, a characteristic to which these annuals owe their English name of "Love in a Mist". You can sow this selection of stunning annuals like stardust, in rock gardens or in sunny beds, without fear of disturbing neighbouring plants. It is an excellent flower for bouquets. This plant is very easy to succeed and features decorative foliage, flowers, fruit... what's not to love?

Nigella damascena is an annual plant of the buttercup family (Renonculaceae) native to the Near East. In the wild, it grows in uncultivated, rocky areas, roadsides, and in the most difficult of soils. It is an annual plant whose life span does not exceed a few months, but which spontaneously and generously self-seeds. Very hardy and fast-growing, this plant spends the winter as a seedling and in spring forms a beautiful clump of feathery foliage, like that of fennel, and grows up to 50 cm high and 30 cm wide. 

The 'Persian Rose' variety displays finely snipped, pure pink flowers. Flowering takes place from May to August, depending on when the seeds were sown. Its beautiful flowers feature tapered petals, surrounded by a lace collar and are nestled in the foliage. They are about 2.5 cm in diameter and develop into round, pinkish-brown capsules that become silky when mature and contain a large quantity of small black seeds. These seeds germinate very easily in light soil.

Being one of the plants commonly cultivated in monastic gardens, the Damascus nigella, so aptly named by the English 'Love-in-a-mist', is one of the easiest plants to grow in well-drained soils. It is charming and perfect everywhere and goes well with all the other plants: in natural gardens, rock gardens, perennial beds, where it contrasts beautifully with coarse textured plants. It can also be combined with shrub roses, old roses, bushes or botanical roses. Love-in-a-mist colonizes open spaces in record time and can quickly create a colourful, rural setting with Lady phacelia, Honeywort, sainfoins, Californian poppies, perennial flax, rosemary or wild chicory.