Anchusa azurea – Azure Plant (quart pot)

Description

Although this plant is often referred to as Alkanet or Italian Bugloss and it is a relative of Dyer’s Alkanet,  this is not a very good dye plant! The red rooted Alkanet that is a great source of red dye is Alkanna tinctoria and although I have offered these plants in the past, I am having terrible trouble finding seeds.

However – Anchusa azurea is a great plant – and very rare! Flowers are true brilliant blue – roots are white.

Member of the borage family.

Zone 3 to 9; Herbaceous perennial native to the Mediterranean and Southern Europe… Intense, royal purple flowers, as big as nickels. Flowers are sweetly edible. Fresh roots are a poultice for anti-inflammatory application. Due to pyrrolizidine alkaloids, not for internal use. Excellent beeplant.

Anchusa azurea is extraordinary on the landscape, but like many Boraginacea they do get rangy after flowering. At this point, cut them back to the base and they will gather their resources and go for another flowering cycle. Full sun and fast draining soil.