Daucus carota

‘Dara’

CHOCOLATE LACE FLOWERS

Daucus carota ‘Dara’
CHOCOLATE LACE FLOWERS

Daucus carota ‘Dara’ is known as “Pink Queen Anne’s Lace” as well as “Chocolate Lace Flowers”.
And both common names pretty much describe it.

Huge flower heads of cream, pink & chocolate lace

Daucus carota ‘Dara’ foams up in summer with huge, lacy umbels of flowers.
The buds open creamy-ivory; then misty blooms mature to luscious shades of pink and burgundy; before finishing up as dramatic chocolate heads.
Chocolate Lace Flower is an abundant plant – so with many heads of all different ages on the plant at once – it is a vision of cream-pink-burgundy-chocolate colours and shades.
Delightful !!

Superb cut flower & garden show

Plants of Daucus carota ‘Dara’ provide arm loads of frothy heads for vases, or to foam away as a soft background in the garden.

Florists & flower farmers love them

Heads last well as cut flowers, and are favourites with florists and flower farmers.
Florists love them first for their delightful lacy effect and pretty colouring; and secondly for their long vase life.
The pink-burgundy-cream-chocolate shades make them indispensable for fashionable brides.
Flower farmers love them too because they are so easy and quick to grow.

To get maximum vase life

Heads can be cut when the tiny individual flowers in the umbel are almost all open.
Then the heads will go through the lovely colour transitions from cream, through pinks, to burgundies and chocolate, all in the vase.
Or they can be cut when the chocolate heads are going to seed, and the seed heads also last well in striking arrangements, either fresh or dried.
Cut the long stem right to the ground, and this cutting also promotes even more flowers.
Hang the heads upside down in bunches if you wish to dry for later use.

Constant & abundant bloomer all summer & autumn

Daucus carota ‘Dara’ is a constant and abundant bloomer, right through summer and autumn.

Ladybirds love to make them home

Daucus carota ‘Dara’ also attracts beneficial Ladybird insects to the garden, as they love to live on these plants. As do helpful little Lacewings. There is plenty of nectar to share with the bees and butterflies too.

Quick from seed to flower

Chocolate Lace Flower is satisfyingly quick to grow.
Taking only 65 days approx. from sowing the seed to harvesting flowers.

Grow in full sun to a little partial shade

Daucus carota ‘Dara’ looks fabulous mass planted in the garden, frothing away as a background to any coloured flowers; or planted individually as a lacy filler between other flowers and shrubs.
The foliage is also lacy, feathered and decorative.

Hardy & easy to grow

Daucus carota ‘Dara’ is hardy and easy to grow, undemanding and low maintenance.
It is not a particularly thirsty plant, so just needs average watering during hot, dry periods.
It is a self seeding annual, and if some plants are left to go to seed in the garden – then they will happily provide next year’s plants all by themselves.
Approx 1m. High in foamy lace flowers x 30cm Wide feathery foliage.

SEED SOWING ADVICE: QUICK & EASY

Suits beginners & gardening with kids

Sow any time of year indoors / or scatter directly in the garden in autumn, winter or early spring.

Sow indoors for quick & ealy plants: First sow the seed with a bare scatter in small individual pots (such as jiffy pots or plant tubes).

Tips for best sowing:
1. It is better to sow Daucus carota ‘Dara’ in small pots – because young plants resent being disturbed – so you can plant the whole pot contents into the garden without disturbance, rather than pricking the seedlings out of a punnet.
2. Mix some fine sieved seed raising mix into the packet with the seed, before sowing. Then you can sow just a pinch in each little pot and thus spread the seed well.

Sow the seed on surface of good quality seed raising mix.
Then cover the seed to a depth of approx. 6mm.

Now stand the sown punnet in a shallow water bath and allow the moisture to percolate up to the surface of the mix from below.

Drain, then place the moist punnet in a warm, well-lit position position (but not in any direct sunlight).
Light aids seed germination.

Continue to keep the sown punnet moist.
Covering the sown pots with a clear plastic lid will also help keep the surface consistently moist.

Temperatures of 14-18°C are best for rapid and optimum germination.
Many commercial growers also give the sown, moist pots 2 weeks in the fridge before placing into the well-lit position for sprouting at 14-18C.
This period of chilling does assist with maximum and quick germination.

Seedlings emerge in approx. 14-21 days.

Tip for commercial cut flower farmers: Sowing batches at fortnightly intervals in either autumn or early spring (either as direct sowings in the ground / or in small pots indoors) will ensure a constant and abundant supply of flowers right through summer and autumn.

Seed Count: 130 seeds per pack approx.
(We always aim to exceed the stated seed count, and give a generous serve).

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