All Hail the Queen - a close up about Queen Anne's Lace

Welcome back, summer flower lovers! As you are driving around our beautiful rural area you can’t help but notices all the summer flowers in bloom along the side of the road. In particular, Queen Anne’s Lace… it’s everywhere! Before you just ignore it and drive on by, here are a few reasons why you should stop and respect the Queen ☺

Queen Anne’s Lace is essentially grown all over the world, although it is native to temperate regions in Europe and Asia. Here in Illinois, you might be as likely to find it cheerfully growing on the side of a freeway as you are in a formal English garden. A perennial favorite with flower consumers who feel it epitomizes the “wildflower” look, Queen Anne’s Lace is actually a form of wild carrot root (and if you cut the stem, you may notice that it has an earthy, carrot-like smell). As with so many flowers and plants, Queen Anne’s Lace was used by ancient Greeks and in Chinese culture for medicinal purposes. The crushed seeds from the flower were thought to be an effective form of birth control. Modern studies have indicated that the seeds do appear to interfere with both progesterone synthesis and ovum implantation. The use of Queen Anne’s Lace comes with heavy warnings for practitioners — the flower looks almost identical to a highly toxic little flower called hemlock!

Queen Anne’s Lace is ideal for casual summer decorating. You can simply gather a few stems into a wine bottle or mason jar or step it up a notch and use it as a wildly beautiful filler flower. So show us what you got! Here's your DIY challange for today.. go pick some Queen Anne's Lace and show us your arrangments! Post them to our facebook page!