Garden and Flowers

PIMPERNEL

Some “weeds” are so pretty that we like to have them in our gardens. Pimpernels are one such example and devotees of natural gardens enjoy sowing them. The scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis ssp. arvensis) grows naturally in many places, particularly in soil that is not too acid or compacted. Scatter the seed in loose soil very early in spring to enable the plants to start flowering in May and to continue until well into autumn. The flowers are just over V4 in wide and close up at the threat of bad weather, hence their common name “poor man’s weatherglass.” Their growth is straggling on bare soil; in between other plants they grow to about 20 in tall. The blue pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis var. caerulea) closely resembles the scarlet pimpernel in almost every respect, except that its flowers are blue. That color is more popular and, for this reason, is used more often in gardens, pots, and hanging baskets.

The scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis; also known as the red pimpernel, red chickweed, poorman’s barometer, shepherd’s weather glass, or shepherd’s clock) is a low-growing, annual plant in the family Primulaceae, growing in Europe, Asia and North America. The barometer (weather glass) common names have their origin in the fact that the flowers close when atmospheric pressure decreases and bad weather is approaching. This common European plant is generally considered a weed and is an indicator of light soils.

The stems are about 45 cm long and generally prostrate. The bright green ovate sessile leaves grow opposite. The small orange flowers grow in the leaf axils from spring till autumn. The petal margin is somewhat crenate.