Parsleys, Fennels, and Queen Anne's Lace is the gardener's introduction to the characteristics, cultivation, and history of one of the most distinctive families of the plant kingdom. These plants were well known to the Greeks and Romans — it was the juice of a member of the umbel family that Socrates was forced to drink — and the family was the first to be studied as such botanically, by Robert Morison in 1672. Yet even today the many herbs and ornamentals of this family are not as well known or appreciated as they should be. Parsleys, Fennels, and Queen Anne's Lace is for anyone interested in herbs, whether for their culinary value or as ornamentals.

Parsleys, Fennels, and Queen Anne's Lace is the gardener's introduction to the characteristics, cultivation, and history of one of the most distinctive families of the plant kingdom. It is for anyone interested in herbs, whether for their culinary value or as ornamentals.

Parsleys, Fennels, and Queen Anne’s Lace is the gardener’s introduction to one of the most distinctive families of the plant kingdom— the Umbelliferae, commonly known as umbels. It is the particular arrangement of flowers that distinguishes umbels, but in spite of this basic similarity the hundreds of genera and thousands of species of the family display a rich variety of forms and are put to many uses. Umbel-bearing plants have aromatic oils in their foliage and fruits, and many are used as herbs, spices, and foods—anise, caraway, carrot, celery, coriander, cumin, dill, lovage, and of course, parsley and fennel, to name a few. Many umbels are valued additions to the ornamental garden, too. For example, Miss Willmott’s ghost, Eryngium giganteum, is a strikingly architectural perennial—and one with a fascinating history, as its common name suggests. Parsleys, Fennels, and Queen Anne’s Lace is for anyone interested in herbs, whether for their culinary value or as ornamentals.

Barbara Perry Lawton served as editor and manager of publications for the Missouri Botanical Garden, president of the Garden Writers Association of America, and weekly garden columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Her other Timber Press books include Hibiscus (2004) and Mints (2002). She lives in Valley Park, Missouri.

Publisher: Timber Press
Distributor: Barnes and Noble
Publication Date: 05-15-2007
Pages: 176
Measurements: 9.26in X 6.22in X .79in X 1.02lb