Forget-me-notis a genus of herbaceous plants from the borage family. It includes over 50 species, and a dozen or so of them occur wild also in Poland. Among theforget-me-nots grown ingardens you can find both biennial and perennial perennials decorated with blue, purple, pink or white flowers. Get to know the most interestingvarieties of forget-me-notsand find out what it looks likegrowing forget-me-nots from seeds
Forest forget-me-not
Forget-me-not - description, garden varieties
Forget-me-notis probably known to everyone as a plant that symbolizes memory. It is also the state flower of Alaska, and since 2002 in Poland we have been celebrating the Polish Forget-me-not Day, which is to remind us of the need to protect Polish nature. Forget-me-nots are most often associated as blue spring flowers, but they can also bloom in other colors, not only in spring but also in summer. In the gardens, you can most often find forest forget-me-not, alpine forget-me-not and mud-forget-me-not.
Forest forget-me-not(Myosotis sylvatica) is a tufted biennial plant. It occurs commonly in our country. Creates fragrant, usually blue (less often white) flowers, blooming in loose tops from mid-spring to early summer (most often May to June). Narrow, oblong, dark green leaves covered with delicate hair. There are commercially available varieties with blue, pink and white flowers. Depending on the variety, height20-60 cm. Plants are usually planted 15x25 cm apart.
The Alpine Forget-me-not(Myosotis alpestris) is a tufted perennial that is perfect for planting in rock gardens. Azure-blue flowers with a yellow eye in the center. Also fragrant. It blooms at a similar time - from mid-spring to mid-summer.
Alpine forget-me-not
Forget-me-not(Myosotis palustris) is a perennial with blue flowers with a yellow eye, for growing in damp places, perfect for planting at the edge of a pond. Slightly looser habit, leaves elongated, spoon-shaped, hairy. It can reach a height of 10 to 40 cm. It blooms all summer. It is also available in the 'Variegata' variety with leaves with a wide white border.
Growing forget-me-nots in the garden
Forget-me-notsrequire slightly shaded positions and moist but well-drained soils, they do well growing among shrubs or trees. Mud Forget-me-notmust be planted in heavier clay and moist soil, you can even at the edge of a garden pond, in water to a depth of 5 cm.alpine forget-me-notprefer sunny positions and calcareous soils
Therefore, it is enough to fertilize them once a year by adding some fresh compost or other organic fertilizer to the soil in the spring, or by applying mineral fertilizer in the run-up to flowering. Watering is necessary only if the forget-me-not grows in a sunny position where its leaves may wilt due to the drying out of the gelba. In shady places this problem should not occur.
Forget-me-not on the balcony
Forget-me-nots grow best in the ground, but if we do not have a garden at our disposal, you cangrow a forget-me-not in a pot on the balcony Then they are planted at intervals of 15 cm. Remember that the box or pot should be sufficiently large and deep, with drainage holes in the bottom, and a layer of drainage made of pebbles or expanded clay.
Duringgrowing forget-me-nots in a potthe plant will be require regular watering, fertilizing twice a season and transplanting into fresh soil once a year (preferably in the spring). After flowering, the plants should also be trimmed.
For the winter, the pots with forget-me-nots should be protected against frostFor this purpose, place them on polystyrene and tightly cover them with polystyrene around it. We tie the polystyrene with a string. You can also wrap them with agrotextile available in garden stores. Another way is to insert the balcony box into a larger cardboard box filled with sawdust or cut pieces of newspaper, which will act as an insulating layer.
Forget-me-not - reproduction
Seeds of 2-year-old forget-me-notsare sown from May to July and planted in the garden in September or spring of the following year.Plants can be self-seeding abundantly as long as we don't cut their shoots after flowering and let them produce seeds. The forget-me-not is grown with rhizomes. It can bepropagated by division in spring or autumn
Sometimes it is also possible to rootshoot cuttings of forget-me-nots , cut into 10 to 15 cm sections. For this purpose, it is best to cut the shoots of the forget-me-nots in June.
