Nigella 'Miss Jekyll' Blue (Love-in-a-mist)
Nigella damascena 'Miss Jekyll' Blue -- Love-in-a-Mist; RHS AGM
Clear sky-blue semi-double flowers nestled in a "mist" of fine ferny foliage — the classic cottage Nigella named after Gertrude Jekyll. RHS AGM. Decorative dried pods.
About this variety
The one that started it all. Gertrude Jekyll picked this clear sky-blue form out of variable seed stock in the early twentieth century and used it to blur the edges of her formal borders, and it has been the standard cottage nigella ever since. It holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit.
Each semi-double flower sits inside a ruff of thread-fine green bracts, which is the mist of the common name. At 45 to 60cm it needs no staking and asks for almost nothing. Then the second act: the centre swells into a striped balloon of a seed pod that stands through autumn and dries for months in a winter arrangement. Deadhead for a longer flowering season or leave the pods; it is one or the other.
Two practical points. Sow it where it is to grow, because the taproot hates being moved, and September sowing gives noticeably stronger and earlier plants than spring. And keep it hungry. Rich soil gives you more mist and fewer jewels, which is the usual reason a nigella disappoints. It self-seeds reliably and will hold its own corner for years.
Plant alongside
Nigella 'Miss Jekyll' Blue (Love-in-a-mist) 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 →
RHS Award of Garden Merit
The RHS Award of Garden Merit is given to plants of outstanding excellence for ordinary garden use. To earn this award a plant must be of good constitution, available to the gardening public, and perform reliably across a range of UK growing conditions. It is one of the most trusted plant recommendations in British gardening and a genuine mark of quality.
Learn more at RHS.org.uk →