Queen Anne's Lace.

Hope you are having a great day! Not too hot or humid in Northern Central PA today - finally a break from the heat and humidity.

Just look at the photo above from our garden - Queen Anne's Lace. I have loved this plant since I was a youngster. There's something about those delicate flowers and leaves...and the story that goes along with it.

Legend has it that Queen Anne's Lace was named for Queen Anne of England. Queen Anne was supposedly an expert at hand weaving lace and one day pricked her finger on a needle, spilling a single drop of blood into the center of the lace - just like the dark purple floret found at the center of the flower.

Dark purple floret of Queen Anne's Lace.

Unfortunately, these beauties are taking over our garden. Last year, we were not very good garden stewards. We just moved in to this home and were in the middle of doing some needed repairs. The poor garden was the last thing to be noticed. By the time we got to it, the weeds had taken over and we threw in the towel until this year.

In early June, I cleaned out the garden and put down weed block and about 3 inches of bark mulch over the beds. Instead of putting in vegetables, we planted a few blueberry bushes and in the top bed we planted raspberry bushes. We know we won't have any berries this first season but want them to have room to spread with little competition from other plants for water and the soil's nutrients.

Six weeks later...

Once again the garden was overtaken by weeds! I didn't get a before photo, but OMG, that weed block DOES NOT WORK! It has taken me three days to pull out the huge clumps of crab grass and other weeds that grew right up through the black weed block!

There are thin grass strips between the fence and garden beds - also weed infested. Actually, I shouldn't call all of the plants weeds. The Queen Anne's Lace was everywhere...and I do love it.

So today, I finished the beds and the berry bushes are doing fine. There's also a good sized bed of asparagus that was left to flower and it is also looking good.

Asparagus forest.

I spent some time admiring the delicate white flowers of the Queen Anne's Lace and watching the bees and insects enjoying it's pollen and nectar. I could not bring myself to cut down all of these beautiful plants, so...I left a few of the more prolific patches alone.

Did you know that Queen Anne's Lace is the host plant for the Black Swallowtail butterfly? When planted near berry bushes, these plants attract beneficial parasitic insects that attack and kill the bad bugs that prey on defenseless berries? And Queen Anne's Lace can be eaten as it is a part of the carrot family. You have to be careful though when handling the plants because if you are sensitive, they can cause a skin rash.

I won't be adding them to my diet, but am happy to have left those few patches in the garden to help the insects, and unknowingly, the berries too!

Untouched patch of Queen Anne's Lace with blueberry bush in garden bed.

Enjoy the sunshine!
Kelli

Additional sources:
Gardening Know How
Common Sense Homes
Penn State Extension