Anchusa azurea seeds – (Italian Bugloss, Dropmore)

Description

Picture thanks to Jelitto Seeds https://www.jelitto.com

This plant has very lovely bright gentian blue flowers ,which start in spring and continue through summer. It makes a great display if planted in groups. Its dense dark green foliage makes an attractive foil for the dazzling blue flowers.  It grows to about 90 cm tall and so is best placed in the middle of a flower bed .It likes full sun and a well drained soil. This flower is attractive to bees and can be used fresh as a garnish or in ice cubes for drinks.  It is a hardy plant tolerating minus 7 degrees and is also considered to be drought tolerant. Cut the plant back hard, to a couple of inches in midsummer after the plant has finished flowering . This will cause will cause regrowth and the plant will re-flower for you. The plant should be cut right back in late autumn in preparation for winter. Be careful when you handle the leaves as they can cause skin rashes in some people.

Sowing advice

The seeds can be sown at any time of the year.  Cover the seeds to their own depth, and keep them moist but not waterlogged at about 20 deg C. Germination should commence in 2-3 weeks. The plants have long taproots and resent disturbance so ensure that you transplant them when they are quite small, into pots for growing on. Plant out when they are large enough