{"id":2963,"date":"2020-01-27T11:42:24","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T19:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=2963"},"modified":"2020-01-27T11:42:24","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T19:42:24","slug":"false-forget-me-not-true-garden-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/false-forget-me-not-true-garden-star\/","title":{"rendered":"False Forget-Me-Not, True Garden Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Brunnera\"<\/a>Once every couple of weeks I get an email from Terra Nova, the innovative plant breeder and wholesaler that has enriched the gardening world with scores of new, colorful garden perennials.\u00a0 The most recent email announced the arrival of \u2018Alexandria\u2019, a new variety of Brunnera macrophylla or false forget-me-not.<\/p>\n

Common forget-me-nots or Myosotis scorpioides are spring-blooming members of the borage genus, many of which produce flowers that are among the clearest true-blue in the horticultural world.\u00a0 \u00a0Both forget-me-nots and false forget-me-nots sport five-petaled flowers in shades that I think of as being closest to sky blue.\u00a0 Forget-me-nots sit atop slender, somewhat hairy stems adorned with small, narrow leaves.\u00a0 Their false forget-me-not cousins have the added attraction of large heart-shaped leaves that may be solid green or variegated with white, silver or cream. \u00a0\u00a0The flowers are lovely, and a welcome spring sight, but it is that foliage that gives the plant real value.<\/p>\n

Years ago I bought a single false forget-me-not plant to complement all the common ones in my garden.\u00a0 The young brunnera thrived in a shady patch and I have since divided it many times.\u00a0 This ease of division is another virtue and one that allows cost conscious gardeners to create the kind of repetition recommended by pundits.<\/p>\n

Sometimes also known as \u201cviper\u2019s bugloss\u201d or \u201cSiberian bugloss\u201d, false forget-me-not does not hail from Siberia at all.\u00a0 Plant hunters found it somewhere in its native range, which includes Turkey and the Caucasus Mountains, extending as far south as Iran and Palestine.\u00a0 Maggie Campbell-Culver, in her estimable book, The Origin of Plants<\/em>, puts its discovery at 1713.\u00a0 Plant taxonomists originally christened the plant Anchusa myosotidiflora, placing it in the same genus as a blue-flowered relative.\u00a0 Later it was given its own genus, which was named in honor of Samuel Brunner, a nineteenth century Swiss botanist.<\/p>\n

My original false forget-me-not was a classic variety, \u2018Jack Frost\u2019, so named because of the frosty overlay on each heart-shaped leaf.\u00a0 The veins and leaf edges are green; the rest is white, which really stands out in the garden and makes a nice contrast with the blue flower sprays.\u00a0 \u2018Jack Frost\u2019 is typical of the brunnera clan.\u00a0 It is a relatively low-grower, rising to a maximum height of eighteen inches and expanding to an equal width.\u00a0 The leaves form a rounded clump and last from spring emergence to fall\u2019s hard frosts.<\/p>\n

\u2018Jack Frost\u2019 proved to be so reliable, hardy and beautiful that the Perennial Plant Association named it the \u201cPlant of the Year\u201d for 2012.<\/p>\n

Similar to \u2018Jack Frost\u2019, \u2018Looking Glass\u2019 is even whiter, with metallic, pale coloring extending from edge to edge of each leaf, and only thin green veins to breaking the snowy cover.\u00a0 For more of the same on a grand scale, try \u2018Alexander\u2019s Great\u2019, discovered by plantsman Alexander Zukeivich in his Belarus garden and introduced by Terra Nova.\u00a0 The leaves are about twice the size of those on normal brunnera and a mature clump may spread more than two feet. Terra Nova\u2019s new \u2018Alexandria\u2019 has the same hefty dimensions and white overlay as \u2018Alexander\u2019s Great\u2019, but with more green veination.<\/p>\n

I am planning to add to my store of false forget-me-nots with the addition of \u2018Hadspen Cream\u2019, which sports irregular leaf edges of white or cream.\u00a0 \u2018Dawson\u2019s White\u2019 has a similar look.\u00a0 For even more brightness in semi-shaded spaces, try \u2018Diane\u2019s Gold\u2019, with golden green foliage.\u00a0 \u2018Lantrees\u2019, sometimes known as \u2018Silver Spot\u2019 is bedecked with a pattern of distinctive white spots on each leaf.<\/p>\n

In my garden, false forget-me-nots bloom just a little later than their common cousins.\u00a0 They can tolerate sun, but seem to prefer light shade and well-drained soil.\u00a0 Once established, the plants withstand some drought as well, and require very little maintenance.\u00a0 Deer and rabbits will generally ignore the flashy leaves.\u00a0 The most dangerous moments may occur when Mr. Antlers and his kin walk on your brunnera on their way to tastier specimens.<\/p>\n

Container gardeners can take pleasure in the fact that false forget-me-nots thrive in pots.\u00a0 I use mine as edgers so that their beautiful leaves are front and center in garden beds.\u00a0 They complement spring bloomers like daffodils, tulips and hyacinths nicely.<\/p>\n

When spring rolls around, most well-stocked nurseries and garden centers will carry at least one brunnera variety on the shelves.\u00a0 If you want to plan ahead, find a good selection at Bluestone Perennials, 7211 Middle Ridge Rd. Madison, OH 44057; 800-852-5243<\/a>; www.bluestoneperennials.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Free print catalog.\u00a0 The beautiful \u2018Hadspen Cream\u2019 is available from Digging Dog Nursery, 31101 Middle Ridge Road, Albion, CA 95410, 707-937-1130; www.diggingdog.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Free print catalog.<\/p>\n

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Once every couple of weeks I get an email from Terra Nova, the innovative plant breeder and wholesaler that has enriched the gardening world with scores of new, colorful garden perennials.\u00a0 The most recent email announced the arrival of \u2018Alexandria\u2019, a new variety of Brunnera macrophylla or false forget-me-not. Common forget-me-nots or Myosotis scorpioides are … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,5],"tags":[150,2244,2245,2248,2246,551,966,2247],"class_list":["post-2963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-winter","tag-blue-flowers","tag-brunnera-macrophylla","tag-false-forget-me-not","tag-shade-pllants","tag-siberian-bugloss","tag-spring-perennials","tag-variegated-leaves","tag-vipers-bugloss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2963"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2965,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2963\/revisions\/2965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}