Meet Amy
Amy and I have a love-hate relationship. Well, maybe its more a love-love-love-hate relationship. I love the look of Ammi Majus. It’s so delicate and lacy. I love the productivity of Ammi Majus. It grows tall without trying, and will produce many multiple flowers per plant. I love the versatility of Ammi Majus. It goes with literally anything and always looks like a million bucks. I hate cutting Ammi Majus.
When you cut Ammi Majus, the exposed parts of its stem will leak a sap. This sap can cause photodermatitis in some people. 🙋♀️ If the sap gets on your skin and then your skin is exposed to sunlight, it can cause blisters and scar-like discoloration. My first year growing Ammi Majus, I had my sleeves rolled up when harvesting it, and got sap all over my forearms. It wasn’t painful, but I had to answer to cries of “what happened to your arms!?” all summer. It wasn’t a great look.
If you want Ammi Majust as cut flowers, you may want to leave it to the professionals for this reason. (I am very contientious about covering up while harvesting these days.) But if you want a garden plant who will remain outside, Amy is a great garden guest.
I have never seen as many hoverflies (beneficial insects for those who want to know) in one place as I have in a patch of Ammi Majus. They just love those thousands of tiny little florets on each flower. These are great plants for companion planting, as they both attract beneficial insects, and have relatively low-profile leaves, letting plenty of light through for others.
