Forget Me Not

Myosotis going wild in my blended garden beds

Biennial forget me nots up close

Day 104
The Daily DuBrule

Tis the season for forge-me- nots. The most common form are the biennials. These form a rosette of foliage in the summer of year one and bloom in the spring of year two. I was given a plant of biennial forget-me-nots by one of my employees and planted it beneath my asparagus. The second year it was magnificent- a sea of sky blue flowers with spears of asparagus rising above. An unexpected combination that I truly loved. This year, the Myosotis have seeded down the hill to the next raised bed over. The bed is chock full of them and interspersed between them are the burgundy, lacy leaves of 'Ruby Streaks' mustard. It just goes to show you how nature can create combinations that you never would have dreamed of.

Brunnera with Stylophorum

I like Myosotis just fine but my heart really belongs to the perennial heartleaf forget-me-nots: Brunnera macrophylla. This has been one of my top ten perennials since I really got serious about gardening decades ago. It blooms in April and May, in sun or shade, and in just about any kind of soil. It is a true perennial that returns in the same spot year after year AND it self sows. I have dozens of plants in the Natureworks gardens all distantly related to the first Brunneras planted in 1991 or 1992. Who could ask for more? Nowadays there all sorts of fancy Brunneras. 'Jack Frost' has gorgeous silver foliage and blue flowers and is the Perennial Plant of the Year named by the Perennial Plant Association. I voted for it. It deserves the honor. Last week I visited a garden that had a huge hillside covered in white Brunnera woven in with purple Phlox stolonifera. That too was lovely. But I keep going back to good old Brunnera macrophylla. Green heart shaped leaves and flowers the color of the sky on a beautiful day. Sometimes you just have to accept that an old friend is still the best kind of plant to have in your spring garden.

Brunnera with Doronicum pardalianches