Nigella damascena White with red capsule - Love-in-a-mist Seeds

La Love-in-a-mist 'White with red capsule' is an astonishing variety of Nigella damascena, whose remarkably fine white flowers transform into original fruits with a curious red tinge: round, papery capsules embellished with very fine, light-coloured 'hair' that remain decorative for a long time and that provide finer texture for all floral arrangements, both in the garden and in bouquets. You can sow this variety in spring or autumn in milder climates, staggering the sowing with 15-day intervals in order to prolong the flowering period. Foliage, flowers, fruit, everything is decorative in this unpretentious easy-to-grow annual!

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, similar to fennel's leaves, and grows up to 50 cm high and about 30 cm wide. The 'white with red capsule' variety is characterized by the red colouring of its fruit. Flowering takes place from May to August, depending on when the seeds were sown. Its beautiful flowers display tapered petals surrounded by a lace collar and are nestled in the foliage. They are about 3 cm in diameter and develop into round, dark coppery red 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, wild chicory or everlasting sweet pea...