A BEAUTIFUL BLUE FLOWER

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22895, 16 December 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

A BEAUTIFUL BLUE FLOWER

(By Winifred Chapman) Blue is an elusive colour among flowers. Very few of the so-called blue flowers would sipnd a colour test, many being tinged with mauve or deepened with a purple tone. The anchusa shares with the salvia the distinction of bearing flowers of a true and indescribably lovely blue. The anchusa is quite a familiar plant in our gardens and because of its height as well as the intensity of its colour, it is invaluable for creating groups of entrancing beauty. It is a perennial plant, and there are several different varieties. ,The most familiar one is the Dropmore variety of the Italian anchusa. Another form is the Cape of Good Hope forget-me-not. The common name of anchusa is alkanet. The flowers are like large forget-me-nots, and with these belong to the botanical order of the borages. If you look at a flowering anchusa, you will certainly see many hqlfopen buds of a pink colour, and also some flowers tinged with pink. In common with the flowers of the herb borage, those of the anchusa undergo a colour change, passing from an indifferent pink to the incomparable blue of the fully developed .flower. One may liken this colour-change to that of pink litmus paper under the influence of alkali—a popular experiment in science-classes. The anchusa sets many seeds, three large ones to each flower which develops seeds. They fall to the ground and germinate, many young plants growing Up round the old. It is through this liberal seeding that the anchusa is really perpetuated. As there is always risk of damage to the old plant, the seedlings are very valuable and should be watched for. The first seed-leaves are quite large and are easily seen. The plant also grows from root cuttings, but it is seldom necessary to make these. The full beauty of the anchusa flowers is seen only in full sun, and the plant always does best in a sunny place. In a wet spot, the thick root will rot away in winter especially if the stems are cut down. These are hollow and water runs down them into the centre of the plant. As the main stems arise from ground level, it is easy to understand how damage results. The thick rough leaves die away altogether in winter, and if the plant .survives, new leaves come up in spring. . The main stems of anchusa grow several feet in height, the upper part dividing into many smaller branches which bear sprays of flowers. Leaves also appear at intervals all the way up the stem and as a rule the flowering sprays branch from the axil of a leaf. The leaves and stems, even the smallest, are rough and hairy to the touch. The flower-buds are borne at almost equal distances along the entire length of the branchlets terminating in a cluster at the tip. These latter bloom last, and the flowering period is comparatively prolonged, although the life of each individual-flower is brief. It soon withers and falls at a touch. There are usually innumerable flowers in full bloom together, so that the brief life of the individual is hardly noticed.