Lacy, dainty flowers held on stems that curve inwards into a concave shape, both when the flowers are just opening and later, when the seeds are forming – this is the wild carrot (Daucus carota).
If you live in the USA, you may know this flower as ‘Queen Anne’s lace’, but in the UK we also call it ‘bishop’s lace’ or ‘bird’s nest’. (You can see why, from the photo above.) Just to add to the name confusion, Queen Anne’s Lace is a name also used for an entirely different plant in the UK (Anthriscus sylvestris, aka cow parsley).

Whatever name you know it by, the wild carrot, in its white-flowered form, is often seen growing along the edges of roads and fields. In recent years, new pink and burgundy-flowered cultivars have been developed and the plant has become popular in gardens.
Here I grow it for the light, airy feel that it adds to garden borders. I’m also growing it to photograph. There’s plenty to inspire me: delicate umbels of tiny flowers contrasting with the almost spiky-looking bracts below them, colours ranging from palest pinks to deep, dark reds, and that distinctive ‘bird’s nest’ shape.

Photographing the flowers in the garden can be a bit tricky. The large, lightweight flower heads tend to move in the slightest breeze, so getting a reasonably sharp photograph can take a lot of patience! They’re worth the effort though, and I know that I’ll go back to them again and again for more photographs.
Next year, when I hope to have a larger number of the flowers in the garden, I will cut some and bring them indoors to photograph in the studio. No breezes there! (Apparently they make a good cut flower, lasting well if you sear the stem ends in boiling water for a few seconds.)
Right now, the seeds of these plants are ready to gather. So I will collect them – some to sow now and some to sow next spring – in the hope of having lots more of this delightful plant.

The closer we look the more interesting and wonderful details are to see!
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That’s true! Nature is full of amazing details and they can make great photos. 🙂
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They are wild beauties, Ann!!
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I agree, Indira – they’re lovely flowers! 🙂
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Beautiful, what an interesting plant close up!
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Thank you Phao – it’s a great plant to photograph! 🙂
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Beautiful flower Ann. I am pretty sure I have seen them around here but not quite sure where. Now I have to go figure that out. They are quite delicate!
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You may have seen the wild white version, Syd. It has just the one dark red flower in the middle of all the little white flowers – quite distinctive!
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I will keep my eye open for it – it is a very unique flower and I love the lacy effect in nature.
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I’ve always enjoyed Queen Anne’s Lace although here it isn’t native. Nice little baskets of beauty. 🙂
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I had often seen the white ones along roadsides – never somewhere it was possible to stop. But then I saw the pink and red ones in a garden a year ago and fell in love with them. 🙂
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