Blue. When I hear the word, I think of an azure sky on a clear summer day or perhaps the deep rich cobalt antique depression glass in my Victorian dining room. However in the merry month of May, there is only one shade of blue that transcends any other and that is the perky mid-blue of the forget-me-not.
I do believe, Peg, that the forget-me-knots in my garden are gifts from you. And they are, as the saying goes, the gift that keeps on giving! Prolific self-seeders, they can be considered perennials even though the individual plants themselves are actually annual/biannual. It’s true that you will never forget them because — either to one’s delight or regret —once established, you will never be rid of them. I happen to welcome the little wanderers but do plant responsibly, my Fellow Gardeners!
Forget-me-nots are of the genus Myosotis in the family Borage. The botanical name comes from the Greek words myos and ōtis or ‘mouse’s ear’. Although I have blue and white forget-me-nots in my garden, the plants also come in shades of pink and some blossoms actually change colors— from pink to blue— as the plant matures. They all, I think, have that cute little yellow star center.
“Surveys in the US and Europe show that blue is the color most commonly associated with harmony, faithfulness, confidence, distance, infinity, the imagination, cold, and occasionally with sadness.” [1]
It is said that during the U.S. Civil War, soldiers would present bouquets of forget-me-nots to their beloveds and at the end of the conflict, forget-me-knots were planted on the graves of the fallen. It must have been a lovely yet heartbreaking scene as cemetery grounds transformed into carpets of earthbound blue stars.
Madame Pompadour, the mistress of King Louis XV of France, wore blue myosotis, or forget-me-not flowers in her hair and on her gowns as a symbol of faithfulness to the king.[2] I have seen vintage linens beautifully embroidered with forget-me-nots and do believe I will seek some out in my favorite antique shops. Perhaps a nice day trip when next you visit?
Charles André Van Loo - Madame de Pompadour as a Gardener; (Public Domain; Wikipedia)
As you can see from my garden photo, in just two years my plants have already spread quite a bit, so it’s good thing that I really love them. I’ve replanted a bunch in the backyard and—since I am pretty confident that I will never suffer a shortage—I just rip out some of the excess whenever I want to make a bouquet and lop off the roots (which I then carefully dispose of in the trash bin). I am saving some plants for our mutual friend, Christina, as she is redoing her front yard and may enjoy a free easy-care groundcover.
I sadly missed out on the lily-of-the-valley harvest this year as we had a hard rain—with lightning!—that brought the tiny bells down to ground. I usually like to make up a vase with just the ultra fragrant lily-of-the-valley and scentless forget-me-not (Man, that’s a lot of hyphens!); they complement each other so very well. This time though, I subbed in a few sprays of chokecherry and three white jonquils. Looks quite pretty!!
Peg, as noted in my reply to your comment on ‘Purple Magic’, I am now on an edible flowers binge and you’ll probably be reading more about this topic in future letters.
Love and Flowers,
Wren
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[1] Heller, Eva (2009). Psychologie de la couleur: effets et symboliques (in French). Munich: Pyramyd. ISBN 978-2-35017-156-2. (Wikipedia)
[2] Wikipedia
Oh I love this! Wonderful historical notes, my friend. I'm so glad the forget-me-nots have done well; they do tend to spread! But they're so easy to pick up and move elsewhere. I have some white ones here that mix nicely with the blue! No pink ones at the moment, alas, I also love those...
There's something so delicate about these blue sprays of blooms in spring! You may have seen the photo I took on my recent trip to the UK, where a small woodland was covered on forget me nots! It was a nice substitute for the bluebell wood I sought but did not quite find...I'll put it in another post!