Baby Blue Eyes Flower Nemophila Menziesii Care Properly

Baby blue eyes are so beautiful, which are also known as nemophila menziesii. The flowers are soft white and blue wildflowers which originate in the Baja area of California. It has an extremely low to the ground spread which will look great in a flower garden, a rock garden, or as a border along your garden pathway.

Nemophila Menziesii

Commonly, Nemophila menziesii are known as baby blue eyes. It is an annual herb, native to western North America. The plant is native to California, Oregon and Baja California. The flower grows virtually throughout California at elevations from sea level up to almost 2,000 m. It grows in lots of types of habitats, including valley grasslands, chaparral, and montane locales.

In appearance, Nemophila menziesii is variable. Lower leaves are lobed, stalked, and oppositely arranged, 10 – 50 millimetres with 5 to 13 lobes, each entire or with 1 to 3 teeth. While upper leaves are more or less sessile and less lobed than lower leaves. For your information, the stalk of the inflorescence is 20 to 60 millimetres. The Calyx lobes are 4 to millimetres. The flower is blue with a white center or all white, normally with blue veins and black dots near the center. Its width is about 6 to 40 millimetres. While the tube is less than or equal to the filaments.

Varieties

Apparently, the species includes three varieties:

• Nemophila menziesii atomaria

This kind has white flowers with black dots, but often with a faint blue or blue veins on the crown. It is discovered on coastal bluffs or grassy slopes in Northwestern California, Oregon, the Central Coast of California, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

• Nemophila menziesii integrifolia

This one has blue flowers with black dots at the center and deep blue veins. It is discovered in grasslands, woodlands, canyons, and slopes in the Central Coast, southwestern California, southern Coast Ranges, east of the Sierra Nevada range, and into the Mojave Desert and Baja California

• Nemophila menziesii menziesii

This one has bright blue flowers with white centers which are usually dotted with black. It is discovered virtually throughout California, in meadows, chaparral, woodlands, grasslands, slopes, and desert washes, however it does not occur above 1600 meters.

Also, the flower is cultivated as an ornamental plant, as an annual wildflower in native plant, water conserving, traditional, and wildlife gardens. Sometime, it can be found outside its native range as an introduced species such as in Alaska

How to Grow Baby Blue Eyes

When the spread is fairly wide, it will add a beautiful array of color to your garden. However, there are tricks to care for the baby blue eyes properly. Let us take a look at some growing tips to help you make a beautiful spread of baby blue eyes.

• The best method to begin growing a baby blue eye plant is to start it from a seed. It is a plant which grows best in warmer temperatures, so you do not try germinating the seeds until the temperature remains approximately 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Remember that disturbing the roots of an adult baby blue eye plant will be able to make the roots of the plant distress. So, if you are transplanting an adult plant, you have to ensure to take additional care of the roots. In most cases, transplanting a baby blue eye plant will be able to cause it to perish, however if you do end up losing your plant, easily it can be grown back from a seed in time.

• The flower likes sunlight, however full sun frequently wilts the leaves. Therefore, the partial sun is the best choice to make sure that the flower is healthy so that it is able to grow properly. In other cases, if your sunlight is limited, you are able to try a location which has a lot of afternoon shade as that is the time once the sun is the hottest and the leaves of the plant will be able to be scorched.

• The Baby blue eyes flower tends to grow best in enriched soil which is made from a combination of compost and sandy soil. The plant will not have any problem growing in most types of soil, however they need to be well-drained soil which will not hold water at the roots.

• Of course, Fertilizer is rarely required to improve the growth of this flower, but it will be a useful additive that will help the flower to grow more.

• Once you first plant a baby blue eye flower, you have to ensure that the plant is watered quite a bit, but also ensure that you add the water to the container or garden gently so that the seeds which you are trying to germinate do not wash away.

• These flowers do not need a lot of water to grow. They are accustomed to living in droughts. Please ensure that the top of the soil is dry to the touch before giving the flower additional water. Baby blue eyes flowers are not cactus plants, so ensure that you give them water before the soil is completely dry as a lack of water can stunt the growth of the plant, even kill it.

• A seed which you are trying to grow should be planted in the ground 1/16th of an inch below the surface of the soil. With enough water, cool, air, and sun, the flower will germinate in about 7 – 10 days.

• If you are looking for a spread of these flowers, you are able to pinch the tips of the flower. After the blooming period begins, just cut off the heads of the plant, then dry them out in a brown paper bag. You are going to have a good bit of seeds to plant next spring.

• Aphids are able to be a problem with these flowers, so you have to make sure that the little insects are not harming your plants. You are able to use a garden hose to remedy the situation. Also, you are able to make a soapy mixture if the water alone does not do the trick.

More Info: How to Grow Nemophila from Seed