Herb garden and kitchen · Anethum graveolens
Dill: look, smell and learn
Tiny sunshades above fine leaves: Puschel discovers yellow dill umbels.
The short answer
Dill has very fine thread-like leaves. Its small yellow flower umbrellas form a larger umbrella together: a compound umbel. Observe verified garden herbs, not unknown similar wild plants.
An imagined Wusel scene
Puschel and Flauschi investigate
Puschel looks up. Puschel“Does dill have tiny sunshades?” Flauschi studies the yellow flowers. Flauschi“Those are compound umbels: many small flower umbrellas sit together in a larger one.”
Flauschi follows with her eyes how the large flower umbrella branches into small ones. Puschel describes the pattern instead of counting every flower. Puschel“An umbrella made of umbrellas!” As they leave, he takes another look at the fine leaves.
What it looks like
Very fine, threadlike leaves and yellow flowers in compound umbels: many small umbels together form a larger one.
Scent and cooking
Fresh and aromatic; small amounts suit cucumber salad or a dip.
How it grows
A sunny place; sow directly in a bed or deep pot.
Little Wusel quiz
What makes the yellow dill flowers a compound umbel?
Show answer
Many small umbels together make a larger one, like an umbrella made of small umbrellas.
Explore in more detail
Here you will find longer explanations and further details. You can explore them together.
Is each yellow umbrella one flower?
Dill’s small yellow flowers form branching umbrella-like clusters called compound umbels. Many individual flowers make up one flower head. Fruits containing seeds can develop afterwards. The finely divided green parts below are leaves, not roots.
Compare and understand
Dill is usually grown as an annual: it germinates, grows, flowers and sets seed in one growing season. Compare photographs of young leafy and flowering plants. Adults can sow successive batches for fresh leaves. One harvested pot cannot supply new leaves indefinitely.