turkey feathers: ALASKA: Forget-Me-Not

There's a type of wild "forget-me-not" here that is just starting to emerge in the backyard--and they are so pretty!

These darling perennial herbs are easy to grow and truly hard to forget as they come back faithfully each year from the same roots, forming an expanding clump, and then bloom again the following spring from seed. Once established, they spread happily and are perfect for wildflower gardens and natural landscapes, growing in all regions of North America. Even with their habit of spreading, they are not considered 'invasive' in that sense, but can sometimes be considered a nuisance in more formal gardens.

Even though the flowers are not edible and the plant provides no medicinal magic, I still enjoy these tiny clusters of blue flowers in mass, and appreciate that they choke out the first of the spring weeds. Now that's not a bad thing, is it? And what's more, honey bees love them too.

Alaska's state flower is an alpine variety called, Myosotis alpestris, that blooms from midsummer to late July. It grows in open, rocky places high in the mountains, damp fields, stream beds, and wet woodlands.

Its history as a state flower actually began years before Alaska entered the Union as the 49th state. At the turn of the century, various men's lodge groups got together and chose it for the state flower, and later, as the population grew, Women's Auxiliaries got involved and supported the choice to represent the new territory, even writing poems about it. The legislature of the Alaskan Territory met for the first time in 1913, but it was several years later when the flower was signed into law, on April 28, 1917. When Alaska was granted entry to the Union, it was adopted as the official State flower in 1959.

My COLORS: flowers#800/813; center yellow; leaves & stems #989

Images should be about 4 x 4-inches---to fit a 6.5" quilt block. To get the image:: RIGHT CLICK to save it as a file, or for size options--LEFT CLICK and use the flickr 'all sizes' link.

STITCH GUIDE: For general color and stitch guide; print out the original PDF Directions here:

STATE FLOWER QUILT DIRECTIONS