Cis a backpacker with a white lace umbrella. Elegant but not the type to like to find herself squeezed into a well-arranged, well-rounded bouquet, with stems as stiff as stakes, from which nothing stands out. On its own, the wild carrot is capable of ruffling up the most urban of interiors. Its little air of a flower fresh out of the meadow immediately evokes the walk and makes it an element “essential for the so-called “rustic” bouquet”, confirms Stéphanie Page, production coordinator at Fleurs d’Halage (in L’île-Saint-Denis), who recommends letting it stick out from the bouquet.
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Its circular, serrated and spread head typical of umbellifers needs space to express itself. The florist also believes that it is better to let it soak for an hour alone in its vase before presenting it with other cut flowers: “In water, Daucus carota releases a sap that is not very popular with others.”
Once coaxed, this roadside flower brings lightness and softness to the most rigid of irises and other sophisticated beauties. “His parasol contrasts with the long digital lines”, underlines Stéphane Pennetier, plant gatherer and author of Bouquets all year round (E/P/A, 2018). The wild carrot, he says, “pairs very well with old roses, garden roses and some purple foliage.”
Graph at each stage of evolution
He loves her “as observed at the side of the road”, mixed with “three times nothing” : other very simple flowers, sunflowers, poppies (whose stem he burns a little to cauterize it before plunging them into water), wild oats and other grasses. Daucus carota can be confused with its much less recommendable and very irritating hemlock (the leaves of the former resemble those of carrots, those of the latter parsley), but it offers those who open their eyes a permanent spectacle.
Blossoming or curled up when it reaches the end of its race, Daucus carota is graphic “at each of its stages of evolution”, appreciates Stéphane Pennetier. Outside, remember to let its stems dry out on foot in winter, they will thus serve as shelter for insects, and spiders like to stretch their webs there. In the early morning, indicates the gleaner, when the drops of dew come to adorn this fine weaving, the picture is of great beauty.
Preferred area Light, well-drained soils.
Interview Only requires to be sown at least eight weeks before the first frosts.
Bloom In July. It takes at least a year after being sown to produce flowers.
Aime Have your head in the sun and your feet cool.
Don’t like Drought and stones.
