Woodland Forget-Me-Not is technically a short-lived perennial, but most gardeners treat it as an annual because that is the most reliable way to work with it. Native to the forests and meadows of Europe and Asia, it has naturalized across much of North America and settled comfortably into garden culture, doing its best work in organically rich, consistently moist soil with a little afternoon shelter from summer heat. Start seed indoors eight to ten weeks before the last frost for bloom the same year, or sow in mid-summer to carry it through as a biennial for the following spring.

The real trick with Myosotis sylvatica is letting it self-seed freely enough to persist without letting it take over. Deadhead selectively to encourage more flowers and reduce the most aggressive seeding; in cooler, moister gardens it can spread assertively enough to crowd out neighbors, and a handful of Midwestern states list it as a noxious weed. The stolon-like base of each plant can produce clonal offsets, slowly stitching together a low blue ground cover over damp ground. Butterflies find the small blooms worthwhile in spring.