Myosotidium hortensia, the ‘Chatham Island Forget Me Not’, is a spectacular plant whose needs are often not understood. It is one of those special plants which it is all too easy to kill with kindness.
Myosotidium need cool damp conditions and coastal locations are ideal.
A humus rich soil is recommended in a moist but well drained location. However, in Cornwall and Ireland, we have seen these plants thriving on rather poorer soil in shaded patios where individual slabs have been removed and the plants inserted instead.
Shelter from cold or drying winds, shade from full sun and moisture therefore seem more important than rich soil.
Myosotidium are evergreen perennial plants which grow in the wild in rocky or sandy coasts on Chatham Island, New Zealand. Their thick fleshy stems and leaves grow to around 2ft. The blue forget me not flowers appear in early summer. Some forms have a white edging to the blue flowers and there is also a rare pure white form.
These plants are half hardy and need to be grown in a cool greenhouse in colder and frost prone areas. They will however withstand a little frost if given some protection with a cloche or fleece. Slugs eating the fleshy leaves can be an issue.
Seaweed mulch or a seaweed based fertiliser can be used although, if a plant decides to like its particular location, this may well be unnecessary.
Seeds should be sown as soon as they are ripe in the autumn under glass. The plants can also be lifted and divided by hand early in the spring.
