Myosotidium Species, Chatham Island Forget-Me-Not

My husband and I lived in the Chatham Islands for a number of years, and growing the Chatham Island Lily was not easy, but yes they grow ...Read Morequiet prolifically on the sandy shores, the islands is certainly not tropical but a windswept quiet cold climate. However that was 30 yrs ago and we now live in the tropical little paradise of Tolaga Bay Nth Islands NZ where we are lucky enough to have a micro climate most of the year.
I decided to try and grow the Chatham Islands Lily again and so purchased three plants. They are thriving well and funnily enough in our gardening magazine during the covid-19 lockdown there was an article on the Chatham Islands lily...thought some may find it interesting.
It was written by a resident on the island that has a great expanse of them growing under trees...I will type the important parts of the article !!
QUOTE
"Flourishing under the trees is an extensive planting of Chatham Islands forget-me-nots. their lush appearance belying their initial struggles in the poor pumice soil. I bought about 100 at first, with half dying in their first year. " "I thought, this was useless, so decided to give them more water as pumice doesn't hold water or nutrients. Adding a watering system improved things a lot, but not enough. I wanted a more luxurious look" "A good friend and gardening expert Gordon Collier came to visit and admitted he hadn't had much luck growing them either." I thought, if you are a guru and can't grow them there's no point my keeping at it. But Gordon suggested trying pine needles as a mulch. The difference, you would not believe. They have looked gorgeous this year, all of them in flower. You need a generous mulch of 150 to 200mm."
"UNQUOTE"

i live in new zealand. i visited the chatham islands was struck by the beauty of the native forgetmenot, my freinds collection included s...Read Moreeveral of the rare (and understand the wild examples gone) white ones. i have since tried growing them myself. in the first instance i got some divisions from another friend locally, at first they grew well and then died back in the manner described above. they did not die completely however and eventually regrew only to repeat the die back. what causes it i dont know but they did after a couple of years establish themselves flower and set seed. the examples i have now came from that seed. germination is an exercise in patience. my batting average increased when i slit the leathery seed casing with a scalple and sowed. more
recent conversation with a respected and sucusseful grower (employed by 'dept of conservation') suggests a cold treatment of seeds prior to sowing (6-8 weeks in the fridge ought to do it). at my next attempt i shall incorperate a little copper-oxy-cholride into my seed mix as i found fungal/algal problems over the many months required for germination.the plants i have grown from seed have suffered no die back or other problems. as i write this (oct 2011) they are flowering and visited by bees during the warmest days. a gardeners satisfaction! alarmingly the plant in the wild (chatham islands) is under threat by grazing animals and weed invasion. keep up the good work out there!!!

I'm on my second two plants now.
The first one I bought from a reputable nursery in England, after seeing them growing in New Zea...Read Moreland.
Unfortunately, it developed brown marks on the leaves & died.
When I went to N.Z. again, I bought some seeds & actually got one to germinate!
This little plant was kept in a cold frame overwinter & has grown quite well during this year.
Looking around a local 'Wyvale' garden centre recently, I was astounded to see that there was one for sale there, so I bought it just in case I lost my 'home grown' one.
Now the 'Wyvale' one has started to get some of the leaves developing brown marks along the veins & then the leaves turn black & die off.(The nursery folk have no answer for this.)
Can anyone please tell me why this is happening & what, perhaps, I can do to prevent it.
Anxiously awaiting an answer......
MonarchWings

Grows well in Co.Cork Ireland, no problems with frosts. Likes semi shaded position where ground doesn't dry out. I haven't tried the seaw...Read Moreeed fertilizer which it is said to like, ordinary manure works ok.