There is a name for the easygoing, ubiquitous plants that play the supporting chorus to the marquee stars of the border: we call them “fillers”. They do the job admirably, weaving in and out to create a textural backdrop for their statuesque neighbours (such as the red tulips, left), clambering over bare soil in drifts, disguising ungainly stems with their frothy blossoms and demanding little in the way of attention themselves. They are seldom recognized for their virtues yet the garden would be a sad place without their unifying presence. And in the world of fillers, the forget-me-not is a true champion.

Forget-me-nots are members of the Boraginaceae family and feature some fifty species worldwide. Their genus name Myosotis means “mouse-eared” and refers to the endearing shape of the small, oblong leaves. European legend has it that the plant got its common name (it is known as ne-m’oubliez-pas in France) when a knight, strolling along a riverbank with his bride, bent to pick the flowers she admired, only to fall into the river and be swept away in the current.

And the lady fair of the knight so true,

Aye remembered his hapless lot;

And she cherished the flowers of brilliant hue,

And braided her hair with the blossoms blue,

And she called it Forget-me-not. Anon

The three most common species all bear small blue flowers on short stems. Alpine forget-me-not, Myosotis alpestris, is a compact, short-lived perennial that enjoys dry, alkaline soil and is the state flower of Alaska, where it blooms in mountain meadows. Swamp forget-me-not M. scorpioides (syn. M. palustris) is a perennial that requires damp soil and is lovely in a bog garden or streamside, flowering on somewhat lax stems in summer.

Most familiar to gardeners is the woodland forget-me-not, Myosotis sylvatica. A biennial native to much of Europe and Asia and ruggedly hardy to -40C (–40F), it flowers over a very long period in mid-late spring, the 6-12 inch (15-30 cm) stems arising from a rosette of leaves formed the previous summer. As its name suggests, woodland forget-me-not is happiest in part shade, but it will also perform well in full sun, provided the soil remains moist.

Biennial forget-me-nots are a powerful design tool in the spring garden, a virtue noted by some of the finest garden-makers. Gertrude Jekyll liked pairing forget-me-nots with foamflowers (Tiarella spp.); Russell Page loved mixing them with pansies, English daisies, bachelor buttons, tulips and hyacinths; and Penelope Hobhouse praised them too. Grown en masse, the clouds of blue cool down spring’s strident reds and yellows and contrast beautifully with the fresh green of new foliage, particularly hostas and ornamental grasses such as Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’, shown at right. The long blooming season has the advantage of providing companionship to a host of spring flowers and bulbs, including columbine, Jacob’s ladder, bugleweed, pulmonaria, blue flax, dianthus, creeping phlox, perennial bachelor’s button, lily-of-the-valley, bleeding heart, Virginia bluebell, violet and pansy and spring bulbs such as tulip, daffodil, fritillaria and grape hyacinth.

Trying to appreciate each tiny forget-me-not blossom as an individual is a bit like pulling out a piece of lawn and extolling the virtue of a few blades. Still, gaze into the face of a forget-me-not and you will see something extraordinary: five sky-blue petals and a sculpted “nectar guide” of bright yellow encircling the stamens in the mysterious centre. And adding function to form – thanks to a clever bit of evolutionary engineering -- that little yellow fairy necklace so visible to pollinating insects turns an unremarkable white when the nectar inside the bloom has gone.

Forget-me-nots are trouble-free, need no fertilizing and are remarkably easy to grow from seed. In fact, they will self-seed prolifically if the dead flowers are not removed and can be spread about the garden by shaking the ripened seedheads over bare earth in June. Some might find them a little too invasive, but their roots are shallow and pulling out unwanted plants is easy. Seedlings can also be grown on in an out-of-the-way spot and moved into position in September or early spring. Seed houses offer selected cultivars of Myosotis sylvatica such as ‘Victoria Blue’, ‘Blue Ball’ and ‘Royal Blue Improved’, as well as pink and white selections like ‘Snowball’, ‘Victoria Rose’ and ‘Pinkie’.

To enjoy forget-me-nots in the house, cut stems at the base and combine them in small vases with other diminutive blossoms like lily-of-the-valley, grape hyacinths and violas; they won’t last long in water but they make delightful nosegays for a day or two.

Adapted from a story that appeared originally in Canadian Gardening magazine

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