Missouri Dayflowers

One of Missouri's true blue wildflowers, dayflower.

Missouri's Dayflower

It's almost unavailable any more, true blue garden flowers. So it's with a little consternation that I watch a friend mow down a lovely patch of one of Missouri's true blue wildflowers, the dayflower commelina communis. As you can guess from the plant's name, the one-inch blue flowers last only a day. 

A cousin of the fleshy-stemmed spiderwort, dayflowers grow on more narrow fleshy stems with oval leaves, preferring shade to full sun.

Another lovely Missouri wildflower and cousin to Missouri dayflowers, spiderwort.

When I see the two pictures close together, it's easier to see the family connection.

One of the advantages of having dayflowers around is that you can use them in bald spots. Once they establish themselves, they can form a nice edge.

If you don't like where they settle, not a problem. The roots are on the surface, making the plants easily to pull up and move.

Dayflowers fill in a corner at Bluebird Gardens.

Dayflowers will fill in an empty garden spot quickly, bringing both green depth and a taste of blue wherever they grow. Leave them if they aren't disturbing anything; it's an empty garden spot because nothing else will grow there. 

They remind me of little blue bees with yellow eyes but then I tend to see bees in everything  around me.

Charlotte