PlantFiles: Blue Flax
Linum perenne

We put this in a sunny, rather dry spot. It didn't do much last year when we planted it, but it is already flowering this year. Not something to plant for big foliage, but the flowers are pretty. May need protection against rabbits (we had trouble with this once). Has not self-seeded for us yet, but a friend in our neighborhood reports that it does.

This plant has the most lovely ferny foliage that looked great all season, into fall. It did not flower profusely for me, but the flowers were lovely paired with the foliage.

when i was 12, my mother bought a bag of raw flax seed to eat. i "stole" some of the seeds, potted them in a cup, and placed a cd on top of them and quickly forgot about it. 3 days later they had germenated, and had actually shoved the cd off of them. weeks later, they had healthy new growth, and were about 3 inches tall. my mom was very surprized:) i planted them outside, where they grew about a foot tall, until a racoon ( which had rabies) dug them up, and killed them :( ... the racoon was shot by a neighbor. we coouldent take any chances, living in the sub urbs, with many small children around.. the flowers were beautiful though

A beautiful flower which comes in the spring year after year. The stems are too weak to resist the wind and rain, so some lower plants should be planted around to sustain them. Next season I will plant some alpine dianthus all around.
When in flower they have an oceanlike look. The afternoon sun wilts the flowers but new ones will grow next day. A real favourite very easy to grow.

quite a invasive plant, and overseeds onto the lawn very easily. the flowers are nice but kind of on the small side and the foilage kinda resembles a weed.

This blue flax has become one of my favorites. It started blooming in early Spring and I love the way the sky-blue flowers shimmer in the breeze. Doesn't seem to be a fussy plant at all.

One of the loveliest things about this plant is that the blooms, which last a day, shed and leave "blue snow" scattered beneath them. Altho they are perennial, I have lost them in especially cold winters, but they seem to reseed sporadically in my Cape Cod garden. I feel that this is an underrated plant, here, at least, as I haven't seen anyone else growing them locally. A lovely, informal blue flower worth trying.

This plant has been growing in my gardens for years, and it tends to be a bit on the invasive side. However, the excess plants are easily pulled up. It reseeds readily.

This plant did extremely well for me until this year, when the cats decided that it was one of their favorite napping spots (as in right in the center of the plant). Not bad for a 10-year-old plant, really--I'll try cutting it back to regenerate it.

We live in a rather dry zone 3 city (Edmonton, Canada) and blue flax grows very well here. It is a delicate, very well behaved plant - not spreading all over the place, but popping up reliably every spring. We have it planted in a west-facing garden which gets quite a bit of sun in the spring, but is shady once the trees around it leaf out in the summer. The flax provides background foilage for early bulbs, like daffodils, then blooms & adds some colour with the rest of the summer flowers.

Blue flax has lacy, blue-green foliage and sky blue flowers in early summer. It's a drought-tolerant perennial, looking especially nice with ornamental grasses and other wildflowers.

Flax seed and oil is a healthy addition to the diet, and the plant fiber is the raw material in linen cloth.

Flax is a common livestock food as well, although green flax straw may cause nitrate poisoning in cattle and sheep.

Very pretty perennial plant with gorgeous sky blue flowers :)

Beautiful flowers, good addition to any perennial garden. Blooms first in the late spring and off and on throughout the summer.

Has become one of my favorites

Days to germination: 20-25. All-blue, satiny flowers. Cut back after flowering to promote more blooms.