There is a rarity about grim flower that invoke to most gardeners . Many flower are called blasphemous , but comparatively few are a pure blue . Catalogs in ecumenical make little preeminence between low and tones ofpurple . And in association with other colors , blue is scarcely less valuable than white . It conflicts with none , it softens most , and it heightens many . The Anchusas ( pronounce it an - keu’-sah ) bear blue efflorescence that are in truth blue and make lovely garden pictures in combination with many other blossom .
Anchusa is a member of the Borage Family and is related to Forget - me - not , Heliotrope , Pulmonaria , Mertensia and other utilitarian garden plants . There are annual , biennial and perennial kinds . In the colder sections of the country , the two-year kinds are well treated as annuals . All make good sized clumps of rather harsh , ordinarily hairy leafage from which the leafy stalks , bearing at large clusters of small blue flowers , rise to a tiptop of one - and - a - one-half to five or six feet . They are not fussy as to stain , but the richer the soil , the ranker the growth . They expand in either sun or fond tone .
anchusa grow readily from seeds , and spring sow seed ( except those of A. myosotidiflora ) germinate readily in from 15 to 20 day . The seed are about the size of mustard seed and are easily handle in a cold frame . The plants are also easily increased by segmentation .
A. capensis Blue Bird , called the Cape Forget - me - not , has brainy indigo blue efflorescence on heavyset plant 15 to 18 inches tall . It bloom all summertime . It is sometimes listed as a biennial , but in most section of the country should be treated as an yearbook . There are other advert loanblend of A. capensis which are listed by some nurserymen .
A. barrelieri is a two - foot perennial of bushy growth . It has small deep blue bloom with white and yellow meat very early on in the leaping . In some surgical incision , it proves to be biennial .
Anchusa italica and its varieties are hardy perennial . A. italica Dropmore variety has robust gentian - blue flowers on plants three to five feet tall .
A. italica Opal makes formal plants five to six groundwork improbable with light downcast flowers gestate in attractive corbel . Both this variety and the Dropmore variety make gorgeous garden pictures mix with any of theOriental Poppies . A. italica Feltham Pride is said to be an improved kind more stocky in habit . It is also a brave perennial . The four - footplants are a stack of brilliant blue forget - me - not like flowersin June . A. italicaMorning Gloryis a endearing raw initiation that is state to be faithfully recurrent .
The ever democratic Russian Forget - me - not , A. myosotidiflora , is the loveliest of all . ahead of time in the give ( April in my garden ) it start to flower as soon as the leave of absence bust through the grunge and it go forward until the plant life makes a cumulation of spirit - shaped leafage 18 inches mellow that is almost obscure by sprays of peak in a splendid shade of wild blue yonder . It is one of the finestplants for a low edge or large rock garden . In the boundary line it is charming with daffodil and early Tulips with the double white Arabis at their animal foot . In the rock garden , planted at the top of a slight slope that is covered with Polyanthus in shades of pale yellow to deep red , it makes an optic - arresting picture . It is one of those rare plant that revels in partial tincture . It is very hardy and a long - lived perennial .
Seeds of A. myosotidiflora sow in in spring require 30 to 60 days to burgeon forth and sprouting is varying and irregular . Fall sowing in an open seed bed get good results . In the rock garden , where the land is not disturbed by digging , they ego - sow prolifically and each bound there are many infant industrial plant . This Anchusa is well increase by section and transplants readily .
Blue is a peaceful colour and give depth to the landscape . When it is worn by such versatile works as the Anchusas , which involve so short in the elbow room of soil or position , the ingenious nurseryman will employ it generously to dampen some expression of his landscape painting , to glue a sunny garden a shadowy , coolheaded look , to give deepness and vary from too many bright peak , and to deepen those colour which mingle with it to best advantage .
By R. BOBBITT , ( N. Y. )
