Plant of the week: forget-me-not

What is it? Forget-me-nots offer just the kind of froth every spring garden should provide, knitting over bare soil around spring bulbs and weaving a thread of sky blue through borders. They are vigorous self-seeders, and the most pretty of gatecrashers.

Any good varieties? Myosotis sylvatica ‘Wallufer Schnitt’ has particularly deep-blue flowers; there is a compact form called ‘Blue Ball’ and ‘Sylva’ offers pinks and whites.

Grow it with? The tried-and-tested plant recipe is forget-me-nots with tulips (I favour pink tulips like ‘China Pink’ and ‘Angélique’) and lime-green euphorbias. Too formal? Team with other natives, such as cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), honesty (Lunaria annua) and the male fern (Dryopteris filix-mas).

And where? They will do well in most soils in full sun or partial shade, although plants in hotter, drier spots are likely to fall prey to powdery mildew in summer.

Any drawbacks? By June you may itch to pull up at least half your plants to stop them taking over. Treat these biennials (which have a two-year lifecycle) as bedding and there will always be more.

What else does it do? Forget-me-nots make lovely cut flowers and are loved by bees and bee-flies.