Love in a Mist is a cool-weather, upright, bushy annual in the buttercup family grown for unusual summer flowers and seed pods that often find their home in flower arrangements. It is native to northern Africa and southern Europe and can be planted across a wide range of climate zones. It is a medium size plant with feathery bright green foliage and saucer-shaped, pale blue flowers maturing at 2 feet high with a 1 1/2 foot spread. The genus name comes from the Latin word niger meaning black, the color of the seeds. The species name means of Damascus, Syria. The common name, Love in a Mist, refers to the bed of lacy (and misty) foliage surrounding the flowers. Love in a Mist does best in consistent moisture, well-drained soils in full sun; however, it will tolerate most soil types. Love in a Mist does not tolerate transplanting. You can deadhead spent flowers to extend the bloom period, but this will also eliminate the attractive seed pods that appear after the blooms die off. Plants will self-seed in the garden. It is usually better to plant the seeds during the fall than the spring. The young seedlings are winter-hardy. Or seeds can be sown in early spring as soon as the ground can be worked. The plant is a winter annual and if your climate includes cool summer temperatures, you can make additional sowings every 3 to 4 weeks until mid-summer. The blossoms of the parent plant are typically blue, but many cultivars in white, pink, rose, and purple are available. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No known diseases or insect pests.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Soil texture
Clay; Loam (Silt); Sand
Soil pH
Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Occasionally Wet
Available space
Less than 12 inches
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 1 ft. 0 in. - 2 ft. 0 in. | Width: 1 ft. 0 in. - 1 ft. 6 in.
Growth rate
Rapid
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (1-3 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect; Multi-stemmed
Texture
Fine
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Filiform; Linear
Leaf size
1-3 inches long, 1-3 inches wide
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Finely-cut, thread-like leaves cover the flower stems. The leaves are up to 3 inches long and 1½ inches across. The lobes of mature leaves have a worm-like and cross-section; however, the lobes of young leaves during the spring are often flattened in cross-section.
Flower color
Blue; Purple/Lavender; White
Flower value
Good Cut; Good Dried; Showy
Flower form
Head; Solitary
Flower shape
Crown
Flower size
1-3 inches
Flower detail
Each solitary 1 1/2 inch blue flower appears to sit on a bed of lacy (and misty) foliage. Each flower has 5 petal-like sepals, 5 insignificant petals, 5 carpels that are joined together, and numerous stamens. Underneath each flower, there is a whorl of about 5 bracts that are very similar to the leaves. The blooming period usually occurs from late spring to mid-summer and lasts about 1-2 months for a colony of plants.
Bloom time
Summer
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit value
Good Dried; Showy
Fruit size
< 1 inch wide
Fruit detail
Egg-shaped, horned seed capsules (to 1 inch in diameter) are covered with bristles. Stems with dried seed capsules make excellent additions to dried flower arrangements.
Stem color
Green
Stem detail
Hairless stems are medium green, terete, and often slightly grooved. The upper stems terminate in individual flowers.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Non-native
Origin
Macaronesia, Northern Africa, Southern Europe
Distribution
Introduced to Eastern Canada, Northeastern United States, Britain, France, and the Caucasus.