Wild carrot

How to recognise it

Habit

Biennial: a rosette of leaves in the first year, a branched flowering stem 30–100 cm tall in the second. Dies after setting seed.

Leaf

Two to three times pinnate and finely divided, slightly hairy, matt green. Smells of carrot when crushed.

Flower

Flat to slightly domed white umbels 3–7 cm across, from June to September. Often a single dark purple to red floret in the centre. Beneath the umbel, long, conspicuous bracts divided into narrow forks.

Fruit/Seed

After flowering the umbel curls inwards into a bird’s nest. The small oval fruits carry rows of hooked spines that cling to fur and clothing.

Stem

Sturdy, ridged and roughly hairy, without purple blotches.

Roots

A thin, white to pale yellow taproot that smells of carrot, much slimmer and tougher than a cultivated carrot.

Look-alikes

Hemlock (highly poisonous) has a hairless stem with purple blotches, smells of mice and lacks the forked bracts. Fool’s parsley (poisonous) has long bracteoles hanging down on one side beneath the small umbels. Cow parsley flowers as early as April–May and has a hollow, furrowed stem.

Flowering: June–September · Pruning: March and September

Why grow it?

• The broad, open umbels are a feast for hoverflies, beetles, parasitic wasps, soldier beetles and small bees.
• Food plant for the caterpillars of the swallowtail, one of our largest butterflies.
• Long flowering season, from June to September, when many other meadow flowers are already over.
• The curled seed heads stand well into winter: lovely with frost on them and a shelter for small insects.
• A robust species for a poor wildflower meadow, a sunny verge or a dry border.
• As the ancestor of the cultivated carrot, it brings a nice piece of history into the garden.

Wild carrot: where does it grow best?

• In the wild: poor grassland, roadside verges, dykes, railway embankments, chalk grassland, dunes and waste ground.
• Full sun; in shade it barely flowers.
• Dry to moist, free-draining soil: sand, loam or chalky soil, preferably low in nutrients.
• In the garden: a wildflower meadow, a sunny strip along the drive, a dry border or a gravel garden.
• On rich, fertile soil it is swamped by grasses and disappears after a few years.

Goes well with

• Common knapweed: Purple knobs between the white umbels, and a favourite of butterflies.
• Oxeye daisy: Flowers earlier, in May–June: together they make a classic wildflower meadow.
• Lady’s bedstraw: Yellow sprays on the same dry, poor soil.
• Bird’s-foot trefoil: A low yellow carpet and a food plant for blue butterflies.
• Wild marjoram: Flowers at the same time and draws even more butterflies and bees.

Wild carrot: when and how to plant it?

1. Preferably sow from September to November, directly where it is to flower: the seed needs a cold spell to germinate well.
2. Clear the ground of weeds, rake it to a fine tilth and sow thinly; press the seed in without covering it, or cover it with no more than a very thin layer of soil.
3. If autumn sowing isn’t possible, sow outdoors in February–March so that the seed still gets some cold.
4. Prefer to plant? Buy young plants from a native plant nursery and plant them in spring or autumn, 25–30 cm apart. Never dig plants up from the wild.
5. In the first few weeks, water only during prolonged drought; after that it looks after itself.
6. Expect flowers only in the second year: in the first year you will just see a rosette.

Care

Water

Not needed once established: the taproot reaches water deep down.

Feeding

Don’t. On poor soil it stays sturdy and the grasses are kept in check.

Mowing

Mow a wildflower meadow once a year, in September, when most of the seed has ripened. Leave the cuttings for a few days so the seed drops, then remove them.

Self-seeding

As a biennial it has to reseed every year, so always let some of the umbels ripen.

Bare patches

Seedlings need some bare soil. After mowing, rake the meadow vigorously or clear a small patch here and there.

Tip: Want to be sure you have wild carrot? Rub a leaf: it smells distinctly of carrot. Then look under the umbel for the long, forked bracts: these are the two best clues. If in doubt, eat nothing.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: March and September.

When: Mow in September, after the seed has ripened; cut back stems left standing over winter in March.

How:

• Mow or cut the flowering stems only when most of the umbels are brown and curled.
• Leave some stems standing all winter: insects overwinter in the stems and in the curled umbels.
• Cut those remaining stems in March, just above the ground, without damaging the young rosettes.
• If you don’t want seedlings in a border, cut off the umbels just after flowering, before they curl up.

Caution: Wear gloves and long sleeves when handling a lot of plants in the sun: in sensitive people the sap can irritate the skin.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

The only good method. Sow in autumn where it is to grow, or in February–March; seedlings resent transplanting because of their taproot.

Self-seeding

Let umbels ripen and shake them out in September over a bare patch in the meadow.

Wild carrot: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −25 °C.

• In its second year the plant dies after setting seed; young plants overwinter as a green leaf rosette.
• The dry, curled umbels stand until deep into winter, lovely with frost and a shelter for small insects.
• Fully hardy, to about −25 °C.

Diseases and pests

• Disappears after a few years: Soil too rich or grass too dense. Mow and remove the cuttings, make bare patches and always let seed fall.
• Crossing with carrots: Wild carrot crosses with the cultivated carrot. If you save your own carrot seed, keep the two apart or don’t let nearby wild carrot flower.
• Aphids: Sometimes on young umbels. Ladybirds, lacewings and hoverfly larvae clear them up.
• Poisonous look-alikes: Other white umbellifers can look similar. Check for the forked bracts and the carrot smell; if in doubt, don’t pick.

Through the year

• January: Dry umbels with frost. Insects overwinter in the stems.
• March: Cut back last year’s old stems. Young rosettes visible.
• April: Rosettes grow; second-year plants start to form a stem.
• June: Flowering begins. Watch hoverflies and beetles on the umbels.
• July: Full flower. Look for swallowtail caterpillars on the leaves.
• August: Flowering. The first umbels curl into bird’s nests.
• September: Last flowers. Mow after the seed has ripened; collect seed.
• October: Sow where it is to grow. Seedling rosettes appear.
• November: You can still sow. Leave some stems standing.

Did you know?

• Wild carrot is the same species as our cultivated carrot, which was developed from it over centuries of selection.
• The dark floret in the centre of the umbel is missing on many plants. Biologists still aren’t sure what it is for; it may attract insects.
• Its English name, Queen Anne’s lace, refers to the lacy umbel; according to legend, the red floret is a drop of blood from Queen Anne, who pricked her finger while making lace.