How to Plant Forget-Me-Not Flowers in Your Garden

Forget-me-nots are small, clustering flowers in the Boraginaceae family. Forget-me-nots are most often sky blue with yellow centers, though many varieties have pink or white flowers. Most varieties of forget-me-nots are perennials, returning and spreading each year through both seeds and stolons. The plant has a strong reputation for spreading, especially in areas near the Great Lakes in the US, where they’re considered an invasive species.

The most popular forget-me-not varieties include early, true, water, and woodland. Bright blue forget-me-nots are commonly associated with remembrance in many countries. In the United States, they are used as a symbol to remember injured veterans.

There are a few main species of forget-me-nots that home gardeners will include in their flower beds:

1. 1. Woodland forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica): The woodland forget-me-not is the most common species of forget-me-not to see in home gardens because it prefers standard soil. They bloom in mid to late spring. Woodland forget-me-nots are cold-tolerant and thrive in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 8.
2. 2. True forget-me-not (Myosotis scorpioides): The true forget-me-not is a riparian plant, meaning it does best along the edge of bodies of water or in especially wet soil. Their bloom time is in late summer. True forget-me-nots have lower cold tolerance than woodland cultivars and do best in USDA Hardiness Zones 5 to 9.
3. 3. Alpine forget-me-not (Myosotis alpestris): The least common forget-me-not, the alpine variety is the state flower of Alaska, native to mountainous alpine regions and especially suitable for rock gardens. This cold-tolerant variety blooms in the summer and thrives in USDA Hardiness Zones 4 to 8.

For the best results, start forget-me-not seeds indoors or transplant mature plants directly into your garden:

1. 1. Sow seeds in containers. The most common method for starting forget-me-nots is to start the seeds indoors in early spring, up to 10 weeks before the last frost. (Alternatively, you can direct sow your forget-me-not seeds into the garden after the danger of frost has passed in early summer, but the plants won’t bloom until the following season.) To sow your seeds, choose a pot or seed tray with drainage holes and fill it with well-draining seed starter soil. Sprinkle two to three seeds every inch across the soil surface. Press the surface down to ensure the seeds are in contact with the soil.
2. 2. Keep moist until germination. Keep the soil evenly moist as the seeds sprout and grow roots.
3. 3. Harden off your seedlings. Once your seedlings have two sets of true leaves, it’s time to harden off your seedlings, a process in which indoor seedlings are gradually exposed to outdoor conditions so that they don’t go into shock. Begin this process about 10–14 days before your transplant date by placing your seedlings in an outdoor spot protected from wind and sun for an hour a day. Every day, extend your seedlings' time spent outside by another hour and gradually expose them to more and more sunlight.
4. 4. Choose and prepare the soil bed. Once your seedlings are ready for the outdoors, select a planting site for them. If your area gets mild summers and cold winters, a full-sun location is usually best; if your area gets hot summers and mild winters, opt for a spot that gets partial shade in the afternoon. If you’re planting woodland forget-me-nots, standard garden soil will work best; if you’re planting true forget-me-nots, choose a spot that gets the most water, or even consider growing them along a garden pond or irrigation ditch. All forget-me-nots can handle poor, infertile soil, but use soil rich in organic matter for best results.
5. 5. Transplant. After preparing your planting site, transplant your seedlings into your garden. (Alternatively, you can purchase mature plants at a garden center and skip to this step.) Dig holes four to six inches apart, making each hole just larger than the root balls of your plants. Ease each plant out of the container, loosen its root ball, place it in a hole, then fill the hole in with more soil. If you transplant your seedlings in spring, you’re most likely to see blooms that same season; if you choose to transplant your seedlings in summer or early fall, your forget-me-nots won’t bloom until the following season.
6. 6. Water immediately. Once your plants are in the ground, water the soil around them to settle the soil and help establish their roots.

Once established, there are only a few basic steps to grow forget-me-nots:

1. 1. Water. Woodland forget-me-nots prefer regular watering; water them when the top two to three inches of the soil feels dry. True forget-me-nots are marsh plants, meaning they thrive when planted in or beside very wet soil, so keep them in evenly moist soil and avoid letting them dry out.
2. 2. Weed. To prevent other plants from coming in and competing for water and nutrients, routinely monitor your forget-me-not bed for weeds.
3. 3. Deadhead. To encourage more blooms in your forget-me-not bed, use a process called “deadheading,” in which you remove old blooms to encourage new growth—when a bloom begins to wilt or fade, trim the flower back to the first leafed stem. This process will also help control the seeding and spread of your forget-me-nots since wilting blooms drop seeds that will bloom next year; if you want to grow them as annuals, allow some of the flowers to go to seed, and they’ll naturally seed the bed for new growth the following season.
4. 4. Control their growth. Forget-me-nots are a powerful ground cover and can quickly reseed and spread to other areas of your garden if you don’t take measures to control them. If you want to confine your forget-me-nots to a particular spot in your landscaping, deadhead blossoms to prevent them from dropping too many seeds. You can also avoid perennial varieties and opt for biennial or annual varieties, which won’t grow back every year.

Grow your own garden with Ron Finley, the self-described "Gangster Gardener." Get the MasterClass Annual Membership and learn how to cultivate fresh herbs and vegetables, keep your house plants alive, and use compost to make your community—and the world—a better place.