Plant record
Nigella
Nigella damascena
Nigella is lacework for the vegetable bed. It slips into small spaces and leaves behind beautiful seed pods.
Garden timing
Direct sow in cool soil; it resents transplant fuss.
Succession rhythm: about every 21 days.
Plant intelligence
Tuck four plants into a square for a light cool-season flower before summer crops fill in.
cut flowerpollinatoredge plant
Lifecycle: annual
Habit: lacy cool-season annual
Height: 12-24 inches
Spread: 6-12 inches
Germination: 10-14 days
Sow depth: 0.125 inches
Bloom: spring, early summer
Attracts: bees
Record score
88/100deep plant record
Taxonomy confidence94Nigella damascena in Ranunculaceae; 2 cached source references.
Square-foot usefulness944 per square with none support.
Timing and care depth791 planting window, 40F minimum soil, 2 cautions.
Species and variety drill-down882 variety or cultivar options attached.
Annual flower intelligence90moderate pollinator value.
Source readiness82Ready for 4 external lookup paths.
Species identity
This record is anchored to a stable botanical name, then adjusted for square-foot garden decisions.
ScientificNigella damascenaFamilyRanunculaceaeLookup namesNigella, Nigella damascena, love-in-a-mist
Garden decision matrix
Square-foot fit4 per square
Season behaviorhardy
Care loadlow water
Bed ecosystem rolecut flower, pollinator
Variety depth2 options
Species and variety notes
Miss Jekyll is the classic blue; mixes make sense when seed pods are the main harvest.
Miss Jekyll Bluecultivar
70small-bed fit
The straightforward blue nigella to try first.
Best use: cut and garden display. Tradeoff: best value comes from early cool timing.
blue, seed pods, easy65-85 days18-24 inches tallPersian Jewelsmix
70small-bed fit
A useful mix if pods and airy color matter more than uniformity.
Best use: cut and garden display. Tradeoff: best value comes from early cool timing.
mixed colors, seed pods, direct sow65-85 days16-24 inches tallCompanions
lettuce, peas, calendula, dill
Cautions
Short bloom window unless succession sown.
Self-sows if seed pods are left.
External enrichment
Cached name: Nigella damascena. Optional lookups can compare GBIF, iNaturalist, Perenual, and Trefle without changing the reviewed garden record.
Open enrichment JSONData layers
FVF reviewed cachecachedSpacing, timing, variety, companion, and FVF notes used by the planner.
GBIF and iNaturalistlive no-keyNo-key taxonomy, common-name, and community context checks through the enrichment route.
USDA PLANTS downloadsreferencePeriodic identity, distribution, native status, and conservation reference layer.
Perenual or Trefleoptional keyOptional species images, care data, cultivar/synonym cleanup, then cache only reviewed fields.
API source score
Perenual API88/100optional key: Flower and ornamental drill-down, plant photos, care flags, toxicity, bloom data. Limit: Requires an API key and plan-aware caching, so it should enrich records without blocking the app.
Trefle API84/100optional key: Scientific names, subspecies, varieties, hybrids, synonyms, and broader botanical cleanup. Limit: Requires a token and should be treated as a reviewed import layer, not a live page dependency.
USDA PLANTS downloads82/100download cache: Standard names, plant symbols, distribution, native status, and conservation flags. Limit: Best consumed as periodic downloaded data instead of one-off runtime requests.
GBIF Species API78/100live public: Accepted scientific names, synonyms, family/genus cleanup, and occurrence context. Limit: Not a gardening advice source; pair it with local square-foot growing data.
iNaturalist taxa API72/100live public: Common-name discovery, taxon IDs, and regional biodiversity context. Limit: Observation data is not the same thing as garden suitability or crop timing.
USDA PLANTS Database
Plant identity, taxonomy, nativity, and conservation flags.
Source referenceGBIF Species API
Accepted scientific names, taxonomy matching, and occurrence context.
Source reference