Don’t forget me!

I saw some bright blue flowers in a front yard on a walk one day and was immediately drawn to them. Looking closer, I saw the little seeds I typically curse when they embed themselves in my pup’s fur… ‘oh well’ I thought and nabbed a few. I planted, they germinated, I transplanted and now they’re flowering in my yard! Right by the front path, ready to leap out onto a passing sock or unsuspecting dog paw! But they’re very pretty…

A quick google found out that these were actually Chinese forget-me-nots, Cynoglossum amabile. Like true forget-me-nots (Myosotis sp.) they are in the Boraginaceae family, but these guys are more heat tolerant than their temperate counterpart. They have another common name – hound’s tongue, which refers to the rough hairy leaves and is where the Latin name is derived: kynos is Greek fordog and glossa, Greek for tongue. Amabile is Italian for lovely or pleasant which I can only imagine refers to the pretty flowers because the plant is toxic, especially in large amounts.

They are annuals and love a full sun – part shade spot with well drained soil. They grow around 50-60cm high with sprays of sky blue, pink and white flowers before prolifically self-seeding, becoming stuck to anything that passes by and starting the process again. Simply deadhead to prevent the seeds, or allow to self seed around the garden (I know what I’ll be doing and it’s going to end in a lot of Kat-Moose bonding time as I pick seeds out of his fur…)