Myosotis sylvatica
The forget-me-nots are in bloom and I’ve collected bundles for the house while leaving plenty to go to seed and spread to other areas of the garden. Hailing from Europe and Asia, this wildflower grows near streambeds and other damp areas of the forest so it’s best to provide consistent moisture and rich soil in your garden. Technically a biennial, meaning it blooms in it’s second season, forget-me-nots will drop seeds in late spring, forming a rounded clump of leaves in midsummer – fall, staying slightly evergreen underneath the snow, and returning in spring with pretty blue flowers. When we moved to our home a few years ago, one of the first things I did was buy a packet of forget-me-not seeds and scatter in them in the garden. Since then, those original plants have reseeded and slowly spread to other areas of the garden popping up between cracks in the pavers and filling in the little pockets of a rock wall. I can think of only a couple of downsides to forget-me-nots and they are that they tend to look a little ragged at the end of their life cycle (don’t we all) and if the conditions are too humid their leaves may get some powdery mildew. I just ignore it, but if you like those pretty blue flowers and would rather a plant that didn’t wander and/or have that slightly raggedy appearance you might like Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ which was perennial of the year for 2012 and another plant I cannot recommend highly enough.
