Native Americans - Garden Plants – Nemophila

Name - Most of the species in Nemophila contain the phrase ‘baby blue-eyes’ in their common names, for example N. menziesii has the common name of ‘Baby blue-eyes’, while N. parviflora is called the ‘Small-flower baby blue-eyes’ (highly original!) and N. spatulata is called the ‘Sierra baby blue-eyes’. Just about the only exception to this naming tendency is N. maculata, whose common name is Fivespot.

Description – Very low growing and clump-forming in their natural habitat. The flowers have five petals and are bell or cup-shaped, and purple, blue, or white in colour, often spotted or marked.

Origins - All species of Nemophila are annuals, and most bloom in the spring. In the wild, this American prairie plant cannot take hot humid conditions. Give it light soil and scant moisture, if possible. Since this species blooms very quickly from seed, it is often a feature of early spring in California and the surrounding states, where it adds wonderful colour, but because it is so short-lived, it is quickly gone and covered by taller-growing summer wild flowers. In garden cultivation the Nemophilas are hybrid annuals which are excellent for edging beds, or for informal low groups in the border. Their long season of bloom (unlike their wild cousins) makes them a fantastic garden addition, best grown in partial shade because the plant can be are rather intolerant of heat. Nempohilas also make excellent pot plants for the greenhouse. If you can’t grow gentians because you don’t have the right soil conditions, a packet of Nemophila seeds will offer a reasonable alternative, giving a wonderful clear blue shade that is only a little lighter than the deep blue of the gentian, for the price of a few pennies. You can harvest the seed yourself for the following year but it doesn’t always come true – sometimes you end up with spotted or white variations but they are still very pretty.

America Nemophila photograph by The Marmot, used under a creative commons attribution licence

 

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