gfult, One of the forget me nots is actually a biennial, so it grows in year one and in year two it blooms (usually in May or early Jun), sets seed and dies.. Presumably it will self sow after it sets seed, but many gardeners are tidy and clip off the brown stems with the dead seed heads which prevents this from happening. As cheesy says above, if you have a place for forget me nots, they will make a beautiful blue focal point in spring, maybe for years to come. If you put them in the wrong place, they will shade out smaller plants in the spring and look very messy coming up between plants where they don't belong. Lime

Hi Pal! I'm lousy at remembering birthdays, etc. What I did was buy a daily planner book where you can see the whole month at a glance and write down events. I had to do this and I keep it on my coffee table. I write birthdays in red ink. I forgot my new DIL's bday once and can I tell you how bad I felt? Other than her not supporting your relationship w/your partner, it sounds like you two are friends and you want to keep it that way. I know you're not seeking advice, but I think you need to pull her aside and tell her, "Sorry about my snarky email, but you know I'm lousy at remembering birthdays, but I did think of you." Maybe she'll apologize for her petty email too. I don't expect a party for my birthday, but I do expect to be remembered by those close to me, just as they are remembered. My family and friends are big on sending cards, and IMO, they are such a treat to get in the mail! Nobody is doing it because they're obligated either. Another thought, some of us and maybe your friend also, had birthday parties growing up, and a LOT of them. I had several surprise parties, the last being a teen. So as we grow older we still want the world to stop on that day. lol. And when it doesn't, well it's kind of depressing, even though we know that is how life is as we get older. Even if your friend said that in jest, she was still wrong to do it. She should know by now you are bad at remembering birthdays. To keep the harmony between you, I'd remind her. Oh, and next year don't buy her a Halmark card, buy her a Papyrus card. :) That will make her shut-up.

OakIris, I have plants coming out the kazoo this year and was planning to pot some of them up to bring to the swap after I got home from my trip, but since I'll be out of town until after the swap this time, that won't be happening. But, I did just look and in 2012 I actually took the time to collect some seed, and I'll do my best to remember to send a little packet of them along with Barb for you. When you get them I need to warn you that most of what you see in the baggie will be chaff! The actual seeds are the hard little black things!!! When I collected them there were a whole lot of them that had gone to seed, so I just cut the whole plants off at the bottom and stuck them in a bag and left them sit to dry completely for a month or two. When I got around to it I just SHOOK the bag really well, and since everything was SO dry, a lot of "plant debris" came off along with the seeds! What I recommend you do with them is to wait till late summer or early fall, then "rough up" the soil in a couple small places, take a BIG pinch of "seeds" (the stuff in the baggie!) and scatter it in each of the places you've "roughed up." Then rub your hand over the soil where you scattered the seeds to "mix them in" just a little bit, and then clearly mark where you planted them 'cause they kind of look like weeds when they first come up and otherwise you might decide to pull them out when you see them and then think the seed I gave you was no good!!! ;-) Depending on the weather, some of them will probably come up before winter gets really cold, and then more will come up in spring. Any that come up will bloom next summer! And once you get a couple that bloom--you'll never get rid of them again! In this case, I don't consider that to be a bad thing! When they start to drop seeds you can either scatter some of it in other places where you want them--or you can just let them do their own thing and they'll wind up coming up all over the place anyway in a couple years! After any individual plant blooms it's gonna look REALLY ratty, and there's no way to make it look "good" again, so once you know for sure they've dropped some seed, I recommend just pulling the "old" plants out (I cut them off at the top of the soil, leaving the roots in the soil to decompose!). Since, once they drop seed, you'll ALWAYS have more, there's no need to try to "save" the old ones. If you have any other questions, I might not be back to answer them till after I get home after my trip. I'm crazy busy trying to get ready to go, and now something "legal" came up that's gonna take a bunch of the time I already don't have! Have fun at the swap, and enjoy your forget-me-nots next spring, Skybird Edited to add: After you sow the seed it would be a really good idea to mulch that area with some sort of "wood mulch" to help keep the surface of the soil moist. If you already mulch, just do whatever you normally do! Edited a second time to add: Mine are just starting to bloom! And my Brunnera 'Looking Glass' is in full bloom too! Love that BLUE!

I admit to being afflicted with the desire to try any plant I don't have yet. :-) And I can understand wanting the foliage to be something more special than plain green, but..... I would like to defend the Brunnera's unappreciated flowers. They're delicate and airy, floating above the foliage, such a pretty touch of true blue in spring. ....I know I'm not as poetic as some of you. :-) so let me try with photos! How about a little love for Jack Frost and its spring flowers.... the early bees seem to love them, also. While the Brunnera flowers aren't the star here, they do make a nice swath of blue for a backdrop. I'm not sure how well the bi-color would show up, but if anyone grows this new Starry Eyes, I'd like to see it!