Last spring when I was planning Loki’s flowerbed, I thought it would be nice to have a swash of forget-me-nots in the front corner.

This is me at the beginning of June 2009:
“What adorable flowers. I’ll dump a seed packet of these small annuals in the front corner behind the violas. They are dainty, sweet little blooms that will look nice with the violas and hosta, but also contrast nicely with the archangel.”

In August of 2009:
“Huh. I sure do have a thick thatch of foliage, even after thinning them out. Maybe they didn’t get enough sun to mature in time for blooms. Oh well, I’ll put something else there next year when they die out over the winter.”

In the beginning of April 2010:
“Well, what do you know. They made it through the winter! Maybe I’ll leave them there and see what happens.”

In the beginning of May 2010:
“Holy-lotta-flowers! Can a mob of flowers still be referred to as sweet and dainty? Wow. The plants are huge and crawling all over the violas. Wait, did they just eat that grape hyacinth?”

Mid-May:
“The oat grass! They ate my cats’ oat grass!”

Tonight:
“Oh my. It’s going to seed. Hmm, maybe I should read up on Forget-Me-Nots.”

Apparently the Forget-Me-Not is a perenial. There are many varieties, but most feature flat, five-petaled, 1cm diameter blue, pink or white flower that appear in spring. When mine bloomed this year, the flowers where in clusters together on top of longer stems so it gave the appearance of a blue cloud over the violas. The leaves are elongated and grow directly from the flower stalk.

The plant prefers shade and averages 5-12″ in height. Forget-Me-Nots self sow profusely and can be invasive. I read in numerous gardening forumn this can be countered by either deadheading the plant or by pulling up the mother plant and shaking the seeds back onto the soil for plants the following year. To be honest, pulling out all the plants makes me a bit faint. Tomorrow I will thin the plants again and then deadhead what remains.