
There’s a rarity about blue flowers that attraction to most gardeners. Many flowers are referred to as blue, however comparatively few are a pure blue. Catalogs normally make little distinction between blue and tones of purple. And in affiliation with different colours, blue is scarcely much less useful than white. It conflicts with none, it softens most, and it heightens many. The Anchusas (pronounce it an-keu’-sah) bear blue flowers which can be actually blue and make beautiful backyard photos together with many different flowers.
Anchusa is a member of the Borage Household and is said to Neglect-me-not, Heliotrope, Pulmonaria, Mertensia and different helpful backyard crops. There are annual, biennial and perennial varieties. Within the colder sections of the nation, the biennial varieties are finest handled as annuals. All make good sized clumps of relatively coarse, often furry foliage from which the leafy stalks, bearing unfastened clusters of small blue flowers, rise to a peak of one-and-a-half to 5 or 6 ft. They aren’t specific as to soil, however the richer the soil, the ranker the expansion. They thrive in both solar or partial shade.
Anchusas develop readily from seeds, and spring sown seeds (besides these of A. myosotidiflora) germinate readily in from 15 to twenty days. The seeds are concerning the measurement of mustard seeds and are simply dealt with in a chilly body. The crops are additionally simply elevated by division.
A. capensis Blue Chook, referred to as the Cape Neglect-me-not, has good indigo blue flowers on compact crops 15 to 18 inches tall. It blooms all summer season. It’s typically listed as a biennial, however in most sections of the nation ought to be handled as an annual. There are different named hybrids of A. capensis that are listed by some nurserymen.
A. barrelieri is a two-foot perennial of bushy development. It has small deep blue flowers with white and yellow facilities very early within the spring. In some sections, it proves to be biennial.
Anchusa italica and its varieties are hardy perennials. A. italica Dropmore selection has wealthy gentian-blue flowers on crops three to 5 ft tall.
A. italica Opal makes stately crops 5 to 6 ft tall with mild blue flowers borne in engaging trusses. Each this selection and the Dropmore selection make attractive backyard photos mixed with any of the Oriental Poppies. A. italica Feltham Delight is claimed to be an improved kind extra compact in behavior. It is usually a hardy perennial. The four-foot crops are a mass of good blue forget-me-not like flowers in June. A. italica Morning Glory is a beautiful new introduction that’s mentioned to be reliably perennial.
The ever well-liked Russian Neglect-me-not, A. myosotidiflora, is the loveliest of all. Early within the spring (April in my backyard) it begins to bloom as quickly because the leaves break by the soil and it continues till the plant makes a mound of heart-shaped foliage 18 inches excessive that’s nearly hidden by sprays of flowers in a wonderful shade of blue. It is likely one of the best crops for a low border or giant rock backyard. Within the border it’s charming with Daffodils and early Tulips with the double white Arabis at their ft. Within the rock backyard, planted on the high of a slight slope that’s lined with Polyanthus in shades of palest yellow to deepest crimson, it makes an eye-arresting image. It’s a type of uncommon crops that revels in partial shade. It is extremely hardy and a long-lived perennial.
Seeds of A. myosotidiflora sown in spring require 30 to 60 days to germinate and germination is variable and irregular. Fall sowing in an open seed mattress will get good outcomes. Within the rock backyard, the place the soil is just not disturbed by digging, they self-sow prolifically and every spring there are lots of child crops. This Anchusa is well elevated by division and transplants readily.
Blue is a peaceable shade and provides depth to the panorama. When it’s worn by such versatile crops because the Anchusas, which ask so little in the best way of soil or place, the ingenious gardener will use it generously to melt some elements of his panorama, to connect a sunny backyard a shadowy, cool look, to provide depth and alter from too many shiny flowers, and to accentuate these colours which mingle with it to finest benefit.
By R. BOBBITT, (N. Y.)