Anchusa
– Alkanet, Borage
Hardy Perennial
Four feet.
Flowers blue, July and August.
Fine border plants of the Borage tribe, extremely
hardy and accommodating.
The best of the race is A. Italica, or Alkanet,
which in good conditions forms a bush four of
five feet high, covered for the greater part of
the summer with flowers which, while rather darker
and richer than those borne by the prototype,
have all the beautiful quality of the true Borage
blue.
The plant may be raised from seed sown early in
the summer; but the gardener is recommended to
obtain a few plants to begin with.
Anchusa prefers a good sound soil, of fair depth,
but is not fastidious; it may stand several years
on the same spot; but it has a way of throwing
out colonies a couple of feet or so from the original
stock, which afford excellent material for new
plantations.
In lifting, try to get up the black leathery roots
with as little damage as is practicable. Anchusa
Capensis is a rather dwarfer growing variety;
the Borage-blue flower has a white eye or centre.
It is a beautiful thing, and should be grown by
anyone who can afford space for two sorts of Boraginaceæ.
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