Ammi majus is a hardy annual from Southern Europe, Turkey and North Africa with fern-like leaves, which can provide a romantic cottagey effect in Sydney gardens. Statuesque plants, to 1.2 m in height, they bloom for a number of weeks in late spring and early summer, with broad slightly domed heads comprised of many clusters of hundreds of miniscule white flowers, each cluster held on stalks of different lengths that come out from a common point on the main stem. Within each little cluster, individual flowers are held in that same domed shape, the overall effect being like an intricate lace parasol!
The flowers seem to float in the border, swaying gently with every breeze, and they intermingle attractively with with the spires of my shrubby Salvia as well as nearby Dahlia, against a backdrop of dark-leaved Amaranthus cruentus, another imposing annual plant. Very heavy rain in Sydney will bow them down, but they bounce back once the rain stops. They are an excellent cut flower. They are best propagated from seed. In the first year I had them, when I planted them in spring, they flowered well into summer, but when they started self-seeding, they germinated much earlier (in autumn) and the flowers appeared in mid-spring, continuing into early summer. For blooms in mid-late summer, I suggest planting the seeds in September.They appreciate moist but well-drained soil in a sunny spot. They usually self-seed from year to year. The seedlings can be quite successfully transplanted if moved when small. You only need a couple of plants to make an impact - they do take up quite a bit of space, so be ruthless with self-seedlings when they appear!
This plant is best grown from seed.