Forget Me Not - Myosotis

I love blue flowers! Maybe that is why I like Forget Me Nots so much! This plant has followed us as we moved. I took a plant or two with me each time from garden to garden. They continue to come up faithfully every spring. Some years everything is covered by a blue haze for a few weeks. I never pull them up before they have finished blooming.


Once they have flowered, I pull them out if they are taking over and crowding out another important plant. I always leave a few so that they can seed themselves and I will continue to be able to enjoy them in future years. Myosotis is a biennial. The seeds will grow into small plants and then go dormant until the next spring when they bloom.

There are all kinds of legends on how this plant got it's name. One is that when God was giving out names to the plants, he forgot this one and it called out to him, "Forget me not!" Other legends are love related. A medieval knight was walking along a river with his true love. He picked her a bunch of Forget Me Nots. Because his armour was so heavy, he fell into the river, but before he hit the water, he was able to throw the bunch of blue flowers to his lady, while yelling, "Forget me not!"

There are 50 species of Myosotis. I have no idea which one I have. The first Forget Me Nots that I planted were blue. And although these plants usually have blue flowers, sometimes a plant will have pink flowers. I usually leave the pink flowering ones to go to seed. I really like the pink ones too. Myosotis also come in white, but I guess my plants don't have any white genes. Maybe I should buy a pot of white Forget Me Nots this year! Add some new genes to the pool.

Family: Boraginaceae. Genus: Myosotis.

Common name: Forget Me Not