I absolutely love forget-me-nots. I think it’s due to their vibrant blue colour and their daintiness…
Their botanical name, Myosotis, comes from the Greek mus (mouse) and ous (ear), due to the perception that the plant’s leaves are shaped like mouse’s ears.
As for the common name, forget-me-not, it is said to have come from a German legend in which a lover, while gathering the flowers fell into a river and cried ‘forget me not’ as he drowned.
Generally, when we think of this pretty flower, it’s the blue variety that comes to mind first, in shades of sky blue through to mauve and azure blue.
But there are other colours such as white, cream, pink and striped varieties.
Forget-me-nots are available as a cut flower in the floristry industry. And at a wedding fair last week, I saw for the first time, some stems of a blue and white striped variety, called Myosotis Wiranda.
From the Borage family, the blooms have five petals and either a white or yellow centre. And they flower from April through to June.
The plants are fully hardy and like to grow in the sun or partial shade in moist soil. And popular varieties include Myosotis ‘Blue Ball’ and Myosotis ‘White Ball’.
P.S. Myosotis 'My Oh My' is available from the Sarah Raven website.
(Images : Flickr : TearShade/kh1234567890/tanakawho/postbear)
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