4 BLUE Wildflowers Found in Alaska! (ID GUIDE)
Did you find a BLUE wildflower in Alaska?
If so, I’m sure you’re wondering what type of wildflower you found! Luckily, you can use this guide to help you identify it. 🙂
Today, we will look at 4 common BLUE wildflowers in Alaska.
#1. Heal-All
- Prunella vulgaris
Also known as Common Self-heal, Woundwort, Heart-of-the-earth, Carpenter’s Herb, Brownwort, or Blue Curls.
Growing Information
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-9
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate mature size: 6-12″ (15-30cm)
- Bloom Time: Late Spring-Late Fall
- Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade
This blue wildflower is one of the most common in Alaska.
You will find this purplish-blue wildflower on roadsides, gardens, and on the edge of woodlands.
You can even EAT Heal-all! Some people use it in salads, soups, stews, or boiled as a potherb. In addition, this mint plant has been used by many cultures to treat various physical ailments such as herpes, skin lesions, and throat remedies.
This plant attracts butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. As a result, it is often used as a ground cover on border fronts, meadows, and naturalized landscapes.
#2. Forget-me-not
- Myosotis scorpioides
Also known as Water Forget-me-not, True Forget-me-not, Love-me, Mouse-ear, Mouse-ear Scorpion Grass, Scorpion Weed, and Snake Grass.
Growing Information
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 5-9
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate mature size: 6-12″ (15-30 cm)
- Bloom Time: Spring, Summer, Fall
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun, Partial Sun
The Forget-me-not is also known as the Scorpion Weed. This is because it has a coiled flower stalk like a tail of a scorpion. Some have also said the common name Forget-me-not comes from this plant’s unpleasant taste or odor, which is hard to forget.
Forget-me-nots seeds spread rapidly, and you may find them sprouting up in places you didn’t plan for. Don’t worry; you can dig up the flower and replant it anywhere you want it to be, and they are not bothered by being moved. I suggest not destroying the plant because this perennial attracts butterflies, bees, and moths.
#3. Creeping Bellflower
- Campanula rapunculoides
Also known as Rampion Bellflower.
Growing Information
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-7
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate mature size: 12-31″ (30-80cm)
- Bloom Time: Summer to Early Fall
- Sun Exposure: Partial Shade
You will find this perennial in a variety of habitats, such as fields, dry hills, meadows, deciduous and pine forests, roadsides, and along railroads.
Creeping Bellflower is native to Europe and western Siberia, brought to Alaska. Unfortunately, it has become an extremely invasive weed and chokes out other plants.
Trying to eliminate it is nearly impossible because of its ability to multiply on its own. Each plant can produce 15,000 seeds and reproduce through its long tuberous root system. 🙁
#4. Western Blue Flax
- Linum lewisii
Also known as Prairie Flax, Wild Flax, Lewis Flax, Lewis’s Flax, and Wild Blue Flax.
Growing Information
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate mature size: 1-3′ (30-90 cm)
- Bloom Time: Spring, Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun, Partial Sun
The Western Blue Flax blooms for weeks from late spring to mid-summer, but you will notice the flowers open in the morning but are gone in the afternoon. This is because the blooms only last for one day!
This blue perennial has long and tough stem fibers, and the American Indians used them for ropes, cords, fishing lines, and nets.
Do you need more help identifying blue wildflowers in Alaska?
Check out this guide!
Which of these blue wildflowers have you seen before in Alaska?
Leave a comment below!
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