Myosotis alpestris FORGET ME NOT

LATIN NAME: Myosotis alpestris

COMMON NAME: Alpine Forget-me-not

Forget-me-nots are small, and the alpine one is the smallest and the brightest. The low, tufted, short-lived perennial carries the neat, narrow, soft green leaves and the clusters of the small, clear-blue flowers with the yellow or white centres in the late spring and the early summer, one of the purest blues of the garden. The plant is a fine, easy presence of the rockery, the front of the border and the wild patch, and the blue is one of the old favourites of the spring garden. It is a plant of the open, sunny, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The alpine forget-me-not is a small but well-loved subject of the plant science, studied for the small, clear-blue flowers with the yellow centres. The way the plant keeps its bright blue through the cool spring has been studied closely, and it keeps showing up in the work on the rock-garden plants, the hardy perennials and the members of the borage family. The neat, narrow leaves and the low, tufted habit have also made it a fine garden plant, and the alpine forget-me-not is a regular subject of the studies of the small blues of the spring garden.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The alpine forget-me-not is a small plant with a very wide circle of friends. The clusters of the small, clear-blue flowers are one of the purest blues of the late spring, edging the border, filling the rockery and spilling into the wild patch, and the plant is a fine, easy presence of the cool garden, coming back year after year. The small flowers draw the early bees, and the plant is a classic of the memorial and the cottage gardens, carrying its name and its meaning wherever it grows. It has been written about in the horticultural papers for the clear blue and the easy ways, and it is a fine, generous plant of the open, sunny, well-drained garden.

The alpine forget-me-not is one of the purest blues of the late spring, edging the border, filling the rockery and spilling into the wild patch. The small flowers draw the early bees, and the plant carries its name and its meaning wherever it grows.

To grow the alpine forget-me-not from seed, sow the fine seeds on the surface of a pot of damp, free-draining soil, pressing them in lightly, keep the pot in a bright, open spot and water gently. The seedlings appear within a couple of weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun and the well-drained ground, the bright blue clusters will open through the late spring.