Blue Flowers!

I like to grow flowers from seed. And I like the color blue. 

It's easy to find flowers that are white, yellow, orange, red, purple/violet. But it's rare to find a blue flower.

The flowers for the crop, flax, are blue. Bellflowers (Campanula Persicifolia) are sometimes blue. As are Astors and Balloon flowers.

When I see a packet of seeds with a blue flower on the cover, I buy it. You can see some of the seed packets I've bought here. 

 

The names on these packages are:

Nolana 

Wildflower - Baby Blue Eyes

Delphinium

Nigella - Love In A Mist

Blue Columbine 

Anagallis 

Convovulus

Blue Morning Glory 

Nemophelia - Baby Blue Eyes

Lobelia

Petunia

Bachelor Buttons

Forget Me Not - Cynoglossum

Catananche

The two blue flowers that I've had the most success growing are:

Blue Morning Glory 

What's nice about the Morning Glory is that it climbs and climbs, up to 18 feet, and produces many flowers. They're great to climb and cover a drab chain link fence. The flowers open in the morning, and close in the afternoon or early evening. 

Convovulus 

Convovulus flowers behave similar to the morning glory's, opening in the morning, and closing in the afternoon. They are sometimes mistakenly sold as a morning glory. However, convovulus stay low to the ground and only grow a foot or two from the seed. You can tell difference by the concentric rings of color in the flower; yellow. white, and blue. 

Blue Leilani

It's obvious that the Blue Leilani is not really blue, but purple or violet. I've noticed that a lot of flowers are listed as blue, when in fact, they are purple. :(  But I want blue! 

Named After A Flower

Originally, I ordered the seed for the Blue Leilani online. In addition to being blue, part of my curiosity was that I'd once dated a woman called Leilani. As I thought of it, it turns out that many baby girls are named after a flower: 

Daisy, Flora, Holly, Iris, Ivy, Laurel, Lily, Petunia, Rose, Susan, Violet, Zsa-Zsa (Alstroemeria) 

Other girls are named after a plant:

Olive, Fern, Marjorie, Cherry/Sherry, Rosemary, Jasmine/Yasmeen

Blue Roses

The same year that I grew the Blue Leilani, I bought a red rose plant, which blossomed wonderfully. I wondered about blue roses. 

Turns out, that you can buy blue roses at florist shops. But until recently, they were white roses, that had been dyed blue. In 2004, genetically engineered blue roses were created. But it turns out that they are really violet, or purple. Can't florists and scientists get their colors right? 

There is the reference to "blue roses" in the play, The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams. In the play, Laura grew up with pleurosis. When as a child she told Jim of her affliction, he misunderstood, and nicknamed Laura, "Blue Roses".  

Part of the symbolism of the play is that (at the time), blue roses did not exist. It's a great play, with many themes, that can make you think deeply. 

Why My Inspiration By Blue Flowers? 

A quick search on Wikipedia on blue flowers says that:  

"A blue flower (German: Blaue Blume) is a central symbol of inspiration. It stands for desire, love, and the metaphysical striving for the infinite and unreachable. It symbolizes the beauty of things."

Hmm. So maybe this explains why I like to grow blue flowers from seed.  

I've tried growing a garden consisting only of blue flowers. So far, I've only had limited success.

But look at Hitachi Seaside Park, Hitachinaka-city, Japan! 

The 3.5 acres hill is completely covered in 4.5 million baby blue eyes (nemophilia), to be same color as the sky. Wow! 

Whoever grew that field, I'd like to talk with you! That's incredible!