Ammi Majus Seeds (Bishop's Flower)

Ammi majus is a Hardy Annual (H4), meaning it completes its entire life cycle in one growing season but is remarkably tough and can handle British weather beautifully.

It's important to distinguish it from its close relative Ammi visnaga, which has chunkier, more domed, greenish-tinged flower heads. Ammi majus is the delicate, pure white, flat-topped variety that's absolutely essential for wedding work and romantic cottage garden planting.

The Beneficial Umbellifer: Ammi belongs to the carrot family (Apiaceae), which means it produces those characteristic flat-topped flower heads called umbels. These act as fantastic landing platforms for beneficial insects—particularly hoverflies and tiny solitary wasps, whose larvae feast on aphids and other garden pests. It's companion planting at its finest!

Ammi has a long taproot that really doesn't appreciate being disturbed, so direct sowing or deep module trays are your best approaches.

How to Sow:
You have two excellent options with Ammi. Sow directly outdoors in Autumn (September-October) for much bigger, stronger, earlier-flowering plants that can reach an impressive 1.2m tall, or sow in Spring (March-May) for summer blooms. The seeds are incredibly tiny, so scatter them thinly across prepared, raked soil and cover very, very lightly—just a whisper of soil over them. They need some light to germinate, which usually takes 7-21 days.

Where to Plant:
Ammi absolutely insists on full sun to perform its best, though it appreciates having cool roots. Planting it amongst other plants helps shade the soil and keeps those roots happy. It's not particularly fussy about soil type but performs best in reasonably fertile, well-drained ground.

Essential Support:
This is crucial—Ammi is a tall plant (often exceeding 1m) with relatively slender stems. It must be supported with either netting, pea sticks, or bamboo canes, otherwise a single summer thunderstorm will flatten your entire crop. Set up your support early, when plants are about 30cm tall, and let them grow up through it naturally.

Cut-and-Come-Again:
The wonderful thing about Ammi is that the more you cut, the more it produces. Regular harvesting encourages the plant to send up fresh side shoots, giving you a continuous supply of stems all summer long.

Ammi is the ultimate neutral mixer—it has this magical ability to make absolutely every other flower look better:

• ☁️ Cosmos 'Purity': The classic white garden combination. Pair the delicate lace of Ammi with the large, open daisy flowers of pure white Cosmos to create a dreamy, ethereal planting scheme reminiscent of Vita Sackville-West's famous white garden at Sissinghurst. Both love full sun and have that romantic, cottage garden appeal. The combination is simply breathtaking on a summer evening.
• 💙 Cornflower 'Blue Ball': The traditional British meadow. Scatter Ammi seeds alongside electric blue Cornflowers to recreate the lost cornfields of old rural Britain. This timeless, rustic combination looks completely natural and is absolutely adored by pollinators. Add some red field poppies if you really want to complete the nostalgic picture!

Sow outdoors in autumn for strongest plants, or in spring for summer flowers.