October 31st TRICKED
We dilly-dallied in town today just because the weather was so nice. In the park, along a back slope, I found forget-me-nots (Myosotis scorpioides) blooming. Forget-me-nots are generally thought of as springtime blossoms, but here we have an excellent example of a spring flower that occasionally blooms again in the fall. Bluets, violets, and dandelions also often bloom again in the fall, triggered by the length of available daylight, or more correctly, by the length of available darkness. In this case the shorter days of autumn resemble the short daylight hours of early spring, and so the plants are tricked.

Forget-me-not is a small, delicate plant from six inches to perhaps a foot tall. The dull green, egg-shaped leaves are each only an inch or two in length and are arranged alternately along the stem, as well as in a rosette at the base of the plant. The small, but intensely blue flowers each have five round petals with bright yellow centers. They bloom at the top of the plant in branching, arched clusters. They reseed readily, and are often found in dense patches. Actually, they aren’t really wild: they are escapes from cultivation.