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While the forget-me-not is easy to grow, it is an annual, or biennial, and the plants die after shedding seeds, although those seeds often give rise to new generations. Forget-me-not is part of the borage family with it usually blue flowers. There are some related kinds that are reliably perennial. The best of these is the navelwort, correctly Omphalodes cappadocica, an excellent plant with masses of bright blue forget-me-not flowers, bigger and bluer than forget-me-nots, over a low clump of neat foliage. It is easy to grow, long-lasting in flower and as a plant, not inclined to spread. It is also tolerant of soil type and some shade.
From Turkey, navelwort, Omphalodes cappadocica is a woodland plant and is better with shade as it has evergreen leaves as a coping adaptation.
It flowers around the same season as daffodils and the combination of fresh yellow and rich blue is a delight.
They both like a spot in sunshine for the best vigorous growth and plentiful flower. It is small, low-growing and spreads by means of underground rhizomes eventually forming a broad clump. It is an effective ground cover once it is not weakened too much by shade.
There are a few kinds. The spring-flowering blue-eyed Mary, Omphalodes verna, from the alps of Italy, is semi-evergreen with rich blue flowers.
The word “omphalodes” is Greek for “navel”, a reference to the flower shape and size, and which explains the source of the name. There are a couple of good forms.‘Cherry’ Ingram makes a low-spreading mat with the flowers emerging from the foliage in a good dark blue opening from dark-red buds. “Starry Eyes” is well-named for its starry stripe of white down the centre of each petal. It is quite bright and the starry shape advances it. This one needs good light to generate good amounts of flower.
A good plant for shade is Brunnera macrophylla which has smaller forget-me-not flowers, and although they are smaller, they are carried in an airy fashion on tallish stems over big broad leaves that are great ground cover.
This plant can be grown under tall shrubs or trees to fill space and keep down weeds. Grown in large swathes, it is very pretty in flower and afterwards it clothes the soil through the summer.
The hound’s tooth, Cynoglossum nervosum, is another borage family plant flowering in late spring and early summer with good-sized blue flowers, although the plant can be a bit shapeless. This is a taller plant, not for shade, but for sunshine. It carries masses of smallish bright blue forget-me-not flowers. It would be ideal for planting in front of large shrubs in a big border, where little effort was required because it is robust and will hold its ground against weeds.
If they are suited in respect of their sunshine and soil requirements, they will last better and they all like open soil, humusy and retentive in the first case, and more open and even gravelly for the others. They all look best in a large planting covering several square metres. This can easily be achieved by lifting and dividing the plants every couple of years and increasing their numbers in that way.
Daffodils are amazingly long-lived, lasting long past the memory of those who planted them in many cases. But tulips are relatively short-lived. At worst, they die out after a couple of years, as best they last less than 10 years. But there are some exceptions, especially the Apeldoorn basic varieties in red and yellow, that seem to have more vigour.
Tulips came to Western Europe originally from a much drier, hotter climate in the eastern Mediterranean and further east. These countries can be cold and dry in winter, moist and warm in spring and very hot and dry in summer.
Tulips like very well-drained soil, and they do well in gravely soils. The soil must not be very poor though or the bulbs will not have enough nutrients. Tulips fall prey to slugs and snail while daffodils seem largely immune to slugs, the flowers being eaten sometimes.
Fruit, vegetables and herbs
Good opportunities to cultivate soil and get vegetable seeds sown occurred briefly in late March. But a few days of heavy cold showers has made ground wet again. Finish any remaining pruning of fruit trees and bushes. Planting should be carried out without delay also. Herbs can be planted from pots.
Trees, shrubs and roses
Many trees showed leaves and flowers early this year due to the mild winter and good sunny days at the end of March. It is too late to move, or plant bare-root, deciduous trees. Evergreens showing a lot of new growth are gone too far too. Roses should still be pruned, if not already done. Control weeds.
Lawn
Lawns have generally made some growth in most places. Apply some lawn fertiliser or high-nitrogen compound to a lawn that looks a bit tired or yellowish, or a lawn that has had a lot of moss. Apply moss-killer as there has been a lot of moss growth due to a mild winter.
Flowers
Plant perennial flowers from pots but it is a bit late for dividing and replanting as plants are well ahead. Tidy up between flowers and remove or chop up old flower stalks that are now withered and beginning to rot. It is now late for sowing seeds of tender bedding but hardy annuals would be fine.
Greenhouse and house plants
The greenhouse is in active growth and all plants should be well fed and watered. Check for pests and control them early if necessary. If strawberries in a tunnel are in flower, make sure to pollinate by allowing some air pass through; peaches are pollinated already, but if still in flower, tap the branches.
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