Orlaya Grandiflora
Orlaya grandiflora -- White Lace Flower; Minoan Lace; Hardy Annual H3/H4
Large lacy white umbels with elongated outer petals — the cottage garden's most sophisticated white umbel and the florist's premium cut flower for romantic wedding bouquets.
About this variety
If Ammi is the workhorse white umbel of a cutting garden, Orlaya is the designer alternative. Each flat head is made of dozens of tiny white florets ringed by dramatically elongated outer petals, which gives it a cleaner, more sculptural quality than the looser Ammi structure.
It is the umbel high-end wedding florists ask for by name, and growing it yourself lifts a cottage bouquet into something that looks deliberately designed. Native to the eastern Mediterranean, and abundant enough in Crete to have earned the name Minoan Lace.
Sow it where it is to grow if you can — the taproot is sensitive and resents moving. Give it lean soil rather than rich, and plant in groups of five or more so the slender stems hold each other up. The sap can irritate skin in sunlight, as with others in the carrot family, so wear gloves when cutting on a bright day.
Plant alongside
Orlaya Grandiflora pairs beautifully with these cottage garden classics
RHS Plants for Pollinators
This plant has been assessed by the Royal Horticultural Society and recommended as especially beneficial to bees, butterflies and other pollinators. Growing plants like this directly supports UK pollinator populations — something close to our hearts at Salle Moor Hall Farm, where we see the difference a cottage garden full of the right plants can make.
Learn more at RHS.org.uk →