Growing Ammi (False Queen Anne's Lace): A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 10, 2026
Ammi looks so much like wild Queen Anne’s lace that it’s easy to mistake for the roadside weed, but it’s grown deliberately here as an airy, lace-like cut flower, popular for softening a bouquet without competing with bolder blooms.
Chill the seed first
Germination takes 12 to 16 days at 60-65°F, and chilling the seed at 40-45°F for a week or two before sowing improves it. Direct-seed in early spring after frost danger passes, sowing a new round every 2 weeks for a longer succession of blooms, or transplant starting 4 to 6 weeks before your last frost. Cover the seed only lightly; it needs some light to germinate well.
Plan for support
Mature stems reach 3 to 4 feet, and the flat, umbrella-shaped flower heads catch wind and rain in a way that can flop an unsupported planting. Netting or another form of support, put in place before the plants get tall, keeps the stems straight for cutting.
Two harvest windows
For fresh arrangements, cut once most of a flower head has opened. For dried arrangements, wait until the head is fully open with no pollen still shedding, which gives a longer-lasting dried stem.
Ammi has no well-established companion pairings, and nothing it needs to be kept away from. Its height and need for support make it a good fit for a trellised row in the Garden Designer, alongside other tall cut-flower crops.
Source: Ammi: Key Growing Information, Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Companion planting guide for Ammi (False Queen Anne's Lace) · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 2-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Mature height: 3-4 ft
Method: Either: Start indoors for an earlier harvest, or direct-sow outside for less fuss. Either works.
When to plant ammi (false Queen Anne's lace), by zone
Every zone ammi (false Queen Anne's lace) grows in. Pick your zone in the header and it will be highlighted here. Each zone links to its full page.
| Zone | Start indoors | Sow or plant out | Bloom |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2a & 2b | Apr 15–Apr 22 | May 20–May 27 | Aug 28–Sep 4 |
| 3a & 3b | Apr 25–May 2 | May 30–Jun 6 | Sep 7–Sep 14 |
| 4a & 4b | Apr 10–Apr 17 | May 15–May 22 | Aug 23–Aug 30 |
| 5a & 5b | Apr 5–Apr 12 | May 10–May 17 | Aug 18–Aug 25 |
| 6a & 6b | Mar 21–Mar 28 | Apr 25–May 2 | Aug 3–Aug 10 |
| 7a & 7b | Mar 6–Mar 13 | Apr 10–Apr 17 | Jul 19–Jul 26 |
| 8a & 8b | Feb 18–Feb 25 | Mar 25–Apr 1 | Jul 3–Jul 10 |
| 9a & 9b | Jan 11–Jan 18 | Feb 15–Feb 22 | May 26–Jun 2 |
| 10a & 10b | Dec 26–Jan 2 | Jan 30–Feb 6 | May 10–May 17 |
| 11a & 11b | Nov 27–Dec 4 | Jan 1–Jan 8 | Apr 11–Apr 18 |
Bloom dates are about 100 days after the sow or plant-out date, not after starting seeds indoors.
Zone 2 sows before zone 3 here, which looks wrong and is not. USDA zones rank winter cold, not season length, and zone 2 is mostly interior Alaska, where hard winters come with warm summers. More on what a zone measures.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Ammi (False Queen Anne's Lace) plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 2 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 3-4 ft.
Varieties worth considering
- 'White Dill' ammi (Ammi majus): Johnny's Selected Seeds sells Ammi majus under this name, calling it a must for cut-flower mixed bouquets; the flat, lace-like flower heads are the whole point. (source)
- 'Green Mist' ammi (Ammi visnaga) (best for: denser, greener filler): Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this related Ammi species as a sturdy bouquet filler that complements any color scheme, with denser, greener flower heads than the flatter white lace of Ammi majus above. (source) Buy seeds: Botanical Interests
Why each variety is listed comes from the source shown next to it. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement. The buy links are separate from those sources: they go to seed suppliers that sell that exact variety, and we may earn a commission on some of them.
Where to buy ammi seeds
The varieties we recommend above each have their own buy links, for the suppliers that sell that exact variety.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a clear consensus of positive, independent reviews, or ones we bought and use ourselves. Each item on our gear page says which.
See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing ammi (false Queen Anne's lace)" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Ammi (False Queen Anne's Lace): A lookalike for wild Queen Anne's lace grown deliberately as an airy, lace-like cut flower rather than tolerated as a roadside weed.
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