Ammi majus
Ammi
“sanctuary and delicate beauty”
Ammi majus, often called bishop's flower or false Queen Anne's lace, has been cultivated since the days of ancient Egypt, where it grew along the Nile and was prized by herbalists. In the language of flowers it shares Queen Anne's lace's meaning of sanctuary and delicate femininity, its lacy white umbels offering shelter in miniature. Florists love it for the soft, hedgerow airiness it brings to even the most formal arrangement.
In season, and in the studio
Ammi is in season June to September, so it is in the studio this month. In the studio's bunches it is texture: the airy, spiky, odd detail that gives a hand-tied its character between the bigger heads. The studio buys it in white, and at the bench each colour is read for its own meaning.
What each colour says
- Whitepurity and gentle refuge
Right for
Arranges beautifully with
Pairings follow the florist's rule: one voice leads and the others frame it (focal, secondary, texture, green).