How to Grow Cape Forget-Me-Not From Seed

Cape forget-me-not is a cool-season plant that flowers in its first year when you give it an early start. Sow indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost, then set the young plants out once the danger of hard frost has passed. You can also direct-sow outdoors after the last frost, or, in mild-winter areas, sow in fall for bloom the following spring. Aim for the cooler shoulders of the season, since the plant sets and holds its best flowers in spring and again in cooler fall weather.

The seeds are small and need light to sprout, so do not bury them. Scatter them on the surface of a moist seed tray or a well-worked bed and press them in, covering with no more than a fine dusting of soil or sand. Keep the surface evenly moist at about 65 to 70F and seedlings appear in 10 to 21 days. Give the plants full sun and light, well-drained soil, and thin or transplant them to 8 to 12 inches apart once they have a few true leaves.

Cape forget-me-not asks for very little once it is up. It handles heat and dry spells better than the true woodland forget-me-not, so water it only when the top inch of soil dries out and skip heavy feeding, which pushes soft growth over flowers. Shear the plants back by about a third after the first flush of bloom and they will branch and flower again. Leave a few plants unpruned at the end of the season if you want them to self-seed.

Cape forget-me-not earns its place as a pollinator plant, so pair it with other flowers that keep bees and butterflies coming. These four make especially good neighbors in a cottage border or kitchen garden, and you can add any of them in one click:

This one is grown for its flowers, not a harvest. Cut small posies of the blue sprays for the table when a few flowers on each stem are open, and they will last several days in water. Deadhead spent stems through the season to keep new buds coming, and near the end of summer let a few flower heads ripen and drop seed if you want volunteer plants next year.

Cape forget-me-not is at its best as a garden and pollinator plant. Its long run of small true-blue flowers feeds bees and butterflies from early summer into fall, which makes it a smart companion near vegetables and fruit that need pollinating. The blooms also cut well for small informal posies, and the low, mounding plants fill the front of a cottage border or edge a path with a haze of blue.

• Poor germination: the seeds need light, so surface-sow and barely cover them, and keep the mix evenly moist until they sprout.
• Crown or root rot: caused by wet, heavy soil. Plant in a free-draining spot and water only when the soil dries out.
• Floppy, sparse plants: usually too much shade or rich soil. Grow in full sun and lean soil, and shear back after the first bloom to make them bushier.
• Powdery mildew in humid weather: space plants 8 to 12 inches apart for airflow and avoid overhead watering late in the day.