Sow now: Chinese forget-me-nots

Photographs by Sabina Rüber

Cynoglossum amabile ‘Firmament’

Cynoglossum seeds chitting on paper

Cynoglossum amabile ‘Mystery Rose’

Chinese forget-me-nots are some of the easiest annuals to grow from seed, and there is still time this year to sow them for a late spring and summer crop of flowers. The seeds are large and easy to sow, germinating quickly, and they make lovely, fat seedlings that are equally easy to handle when you are pricking them out or growing them on. I sow them in March under cover in modular seed trays, to be planted out in May, but it is also possible to direct sow them in early April (as long as the soil has warmed up sufficiently) for a slightly later flowering. They will flower roughly three months from the point of sowing. Native to Asia, the plant is a coarser version of the common forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica) with hairy leaves and tough multi-branching stems with clouds of tiny sky-blue flowers. The seeds are like little burrs, with tiny, sticky hooks that are designed to be dispersed by animals in the wild.

Cynoglossum amabile ‘Firmament’ is a cultivated form of this species with flowers that appear to be a brighter, perhaps slightly darker shade of blue than the species. Growing to 45cm, it makes a useful filler for the front of a summer border, and is equally good in a cut flower arrangement as the small blooms seem to go with anything you choose to combine with it. The variety I am trying for the first time this year is ‘Mystery Rose’, which has dusky pink flowers. Arne Maynard mentioned it in a recent Gardens Illustrated issue, describing it as ‘a wonderful under-storey for other emerging flowering perennials.’ He also says it will self seed, so I’m going to try it in my cottage garden borders to see if it might seed into the gravel pathways.

Having seen the picture below of ‘Mystery Rose’ tangled up with ‘Firmament’ taken at Green & Gorgeous flower farm in Oxfordshire, I am now rushing to sow the blue one so I can grow them both together. Buy seeds from Chiltern Seeds and Green & Gorgeous. And if you need seed sowing kit, discover cedarwood seed trays and pot tampers in my online shop.

Photograph by Mark Lord