How to Grow Love-in-a-Mist

Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena) is an annual flowering plant that grows from 12 to 18 inches tall. With feathery foliage to complement them, the flowers appear in shades of blue, pink, or purple and white. Love-in-a-mist is a prolific self-seeder from pods that are almost as ornamental as the flowers. Many gardeners use them in dried flower arrangements or include them in potpourri. Love-in-a-mist doesn't transplant well so sow directly into the garden in the spring after the last frost. It blooms three months after planting in full sun or partial shade.

Things You'll Need

• Composted manure
• Garden fork
• Sand

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Instructions

1. • 1

     Pour 3 to 4 inches of composted manure onto the flower bed. Use a garden fork to mix it with the existing soil.

   • 2

     Lay the seeds on the surface of the soil, and cover them with a 1/8-inch layer of sand.

   • 3

     Mist the bed to moisten the sand layer and the seeds beneath. Keep the bed moist until the seeds germinate, which should occur within three weeks.

   • 4

     Thin the love-in-a-mist seedlings to 8 inches apart when they have their third set of leaves.

   • 5

     Plant more seeds every month to have blooms all season.

   • 6

     Pinch off dead flowers to encourage the plant to produce more. If you would rather have the seed pods, allow the dead flowers to remain on the plant.