How Does the French Alouette Flower Look When Growing?

Planting Advice

• Sow French alouette seeds in early to mid-spring when the soil is workable and frost leaves the ground. Plant the seeds 1/2 inch deep, and keep them evenly moist in a sunny garden spot. They do not transplant well, so sow them where they must grow the rest of the season. Germination takes 14 to 21 days. A light, crumbly soil is best, such as sand or gritty loam that has adequate drainage. Avoid heavy, compacted garden soil, especially clay that has not been amended with coarse organic matter. In regions with mild, lightly frosty winters, French alouette can be sown in mid-fall or later for growth and flowering during the warm mid-winter months.

Seedlings

• French alouette takes a long time to germinate, so when the seedlings start to pop up from the soil, gardeners may think they are actually weeds. The emerging leaf pairs on French alouette look fern-like, somewhat resembling seedlings of carrots or dill. Each leaflet is deeply cut to look frilly. An individual leaf may have three or five main cuts with further slender cuts in the leaflets.

Plant Development

• In the fertile, evenly moist garden soil, French alouette plants quickly branch to make a fluffy, rounded plant 12 to 24 inches tall. Seedlings thinned out to about one plant every 12 inches create the bushiest, fullest French alouette specimens. The green branches grow upright, basking in sunlight. Leaves measure up to 4 inches long, and plants may be rather slender or branch well and look bushy with foliage -- it depends on the seed and how closely plants grow together.

Flowering

• After about six to eight weeks of growth, depending on temperature and soil moisture, a French alouette's stems begin to elongate and produce 12- to 24-inch long flower spikes above the frilly foliage. In windy gardens, stake the stems to prevent them from bending or toppling over. Flower buds open from the bottom of the upright spike upward. The plant's leafy growth height is how tall the flower spike develops. For example, if the leafy stems grow 18 inches tall when the flower spike starts, expect it to elongate up to 18 inches long. After the main flower spike's blossoms fade, clip the spike off to promote side branches to flower. Seeds drop away to sprout in the garden on their own.