Friday Flowers: White Lace

Queen Anne's Lace

Grandma T. crocheted a beautiful white lace handkerchief for me to carry on my wedding day. I remember her sitting in a big chair with skeins of fine cotton which she transformed at a fast speed into beautiful lace patterns.

Marie lived with Grandma D. as a housekeeper and friend for many years after Grandad died. She crocheted wide lace borders on white cotton pillow cases for my wedding gift. My cedar chest contains several lovely pieces of handmade lace made by family members in a day when women learned these arts in childhood.

I wouldn't know how to tie the first knot for a piece of lace, but I found some lovely pieces in the fields this week.

Budding Queen Anne's Lace

Queen Anne's Lace, an edible wild carrot, has always been one of my favourite wildflowers. There are several legends as to how it got its name. Here is one of them.

Queen Anne’s Lace is said to have been named after Queen Anne of England, an expert lace maker. English legend tells us that Queen Anne challenged the ladies of the court to a contest to see who could produce a pattern of lace as lovely as the flower of this plant. No one could rival the queen's handiwork. She however, pricked her finger with a needle and a single drop of blood fell into the lace, that is said to be the dark purple floret in the center of the flower.

Cow Parsnip

There are other wild flowers with white lacy heads that are also members of the carrot family. Cow Parsnip, Water Parsnip and Water Hemlock look quite similar but Hemlock is one of the most poisonous wild plants around.

Angelica Root in March

In March I noticed a large number of purplish roots beginning to sprout near the river's edge.

Angelica

I could not figure out what they were even though I looked in several books and emailed the pictures to a couple of wildflower websites. I have been watching them grow into tall, purple stemmed plants that are six to seven feet tall.

Angelica in bloom in July

They are now in bloom and can be identified as Angelica or Alexanders. This site gives a very interesting account of the history and uses of the plant. Again, one must be careful not to confuse it with Water Hemlock. Angelica stems can be dried and made into musical flutes. If a hemlock stem is mistakenly used as a flute or pea-shooter, the user can be poisoned.

We had a drenching rain shower when I was out with Dakota last evening. After the rain a full rainbow filled the sky. The sun shone on the wet fields and the Queen Anne's Lace glowed beside the fences along with the lilies and phlox.

Queen Anne of England has lost the contest for the most
beautiful handiwork in the kingdom.