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Woodland forget-me-not

Myosotis sylvatica

Also called Wood forget-me-not, Garden Forget Me Not

Woodland forget-me-not
Photo: Kev22, CC BY-SA 4.0

Woodland forget-me-not is a short-lived perennial, usually grown as a biennial, with sky-blue spring flowers and a neat rosette of hairy leaves. Sow seed one year to flower the next; it self-seeds readily in suitable spots.

Family
Boraginaceae (Borage family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Part shade, Bright indirect
Water
Keep soil evenly moist, especially during flowering, but avoid waterlogging.
Soil
Moist, humus-rich, well-drained garden soil or loam.
Temperature
Hardy in cold winters; comfortable in cool temperate conditions, roughly 5–20 °C.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Madeira, Temp. Eurasia
Climate
temperate

About

Myosotis sylvatica, the wood forget-me-not or woodland forget-me-not, is a species of flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae, native to Europe. This spring-flowering plant and its cultivars, typically with blue flowers, are the familiar forget-me-nots of gardens.

How to grow it

Widely cultivated throughout the temperate world, it is particularly associated with spring bedding schemes involving other spring-flowering subjects, notably daffodils, tulips, wallflowers, and primulas. Typically seeds are sown one year to flower the next. Though short-lived, plants readily self-seed in favourable situations. Plants maintain leaf growth throughout winter.

M. sylvatica is also a parent of numerous cultivars in shades of pink, blue and white. The cultivars 'Bluesylva' and the compact 'Blue Ball' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Other Myosotis plants

Alpine Forget-me-not · Field forget-me-not · Changing forget-me-not · Broadleaf forget-me-not · Forget-me-not

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Myosotis sylvatica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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