Eggarton Cottages, Eggarton Lane, Godmersham, Kent, CT4 7DY
Tel/Fax: 01227 730242
Buy wildflowers, hebs, cottage garden plants, seeds and native hedging in our online shop
Biennial. Masses of tiny, delicate blue or pink flowers. Once you have this it will seed itself all over the garden! Mine have self-seeded everywhere, including between the slabs on my patio and it looks very effective. Finches may also visit your Forget-me-nots when they are seeding.
Forget-me-nots have been around since the late 1300's when Henry IV took the plant as his emblem. It is sometimes called Scorpion Grass, according to Gerard (1633), because its flowerhead was thought to resemble a scorpion's tail. Therefore it was also believed to cure the sting of a scorpion, and snake and dog bites.
It is a very ancient plant, used traditionally for carpeting between tulips and wallflowers. It was also the personal emblem of Henry of Lancaster (later Henry IV) who believed that whoever wore it would not be forgotten. The Latin name comes from the word for mouse ear, which the leaves tend to resemble.
In German folklore, a knight picked Forget-me-not for his love as they walked by a river. He tripped and fell in but before he drowned he threw his love the flowers and cried "Forget me not!"
Christian legend tells of Adam naming the plants and missing out Forget-me-not, who asked what she was called. He replied, "You shall be my Forget-me-not". The plant is one of the Medieval key flowers to secret caves where treasure lay - press the flower against the hill, mountainside, whatever, and the walls will open. Blacksmiths kept a bunch in their forge to protect horses from injury.
One tradition was for friends to exchange plants each leap year on 29 February, or to give Forget-me-nots to anyone making a journey. Some also believe that if it is planted on a loved one's grave, it will never die as long as that person is still alive. In Somerset, in days long gone, people felt safer during May if they wore Forget-me-nots, due to the high number of witches around in this month. If steel was tempered with Forget-me-not juice it would be able to cut stone. Good for the lungs.
Plant out in autumn to flower the following April and May.
Butterfly plant. Forget-me-nots will grow to about 8 in (20 cm) high in sun or partial shade.