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 recorded companions or antagonists in our data. See the full companion guide for ammi for how it’s tracked. 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.
Method: Either: Start indoors for an earlier harvest, or direct-sow outside for less fuss. Ammi (False Queen Anne's Lace) tolerates either.
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)
Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.
Where to buy ammi seeds
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 genuine consensus of positive, independent reviews. See the sources cited on each item.
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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