Parsley blooms have a broad star-like pattern similar to Dill

Flat Leaf Parsley blooms like Dill—the flower head has the broad star-like pattern of little fireworks shooting from the center, but that’s where the similarity ends. As the plant matures we can see the way Flat Leaf Parsley is different. First, the flower heads bloom much closer to the foliage, just on top of or just underneath the upper-most leaves. They are smaller and more discreet, with delicate little star flowers on the tips. Dill, on the other hand, sends very large flower heads very high in the air.

This mature Parsley grows around a thick central stalk, a very different habit from its Curly Leaf cousin. Flat Leaf grows upright, but the leaves are long and slender with the familiar wide flat serrated lobes at the end. They cascade off of the central stalk much like hair fluffs out of a sheepdog—or, if you remember the television show, Cousin Itt from The Addams Family. Flat Leaf Parsley grows higher than the Ornamental Oreganos, about the same height as the Dahlias we planted next to it.