Linum narbonense

Linum narbonense, known as the perennial flax or blue flax, is a flowering plant in the family Linaceae that is native to Europe and resembles Linum perenne. It grows 1 to 2.5 feet tall and about a foot wide, and the stem ends in a cyme of roughly ten clear blue flowers with five petals, each 2 to 2.5 centimetres across. The small, narrow, greyish green leaves are arranged on the stem in whorls. In early summer it produces teardrop shaped buds, and the seed heads are small beige balls. The plant is found cultivated in gardens: seeds are started indoors six to eight weeks before the last frost, or outdoors in early spring once the soil can be worked, and they germinate in 14 to 30 days.