Euphrasia [Eyebright]

[Jonah]

Does anyone know about growing Euphrasia [Eyebright?]. I came across a lovely image of a white and purple flower, but googling has not shown me much. I understand it is a native, very small, and parasitic on grasses, but that is about it.
Has anyone grown it, if so is it worth it [visually] and where would I find it [looked on secret seeds, but not listed there].
If I grew it in a pot, what could make a good companion plant?

[4pygmies]

Morning Jonah, Eyebright is a very pretty little native herb used commonly as an eye tincture in herbal medicine. It acts like Yellow Rattle in that it discourages grass roots. I've never heard of it being used as a companion plant because of this trait! It's not easy to get hold of as seed as it's more often available in mixed wild flower seeds packets. It's quite low growing and is found in grassland. It's a low impact plant so I suppose that's why it's not sold much individually - Sutton seeds sell it in a mixture (I think). Hope that helps.

[Jonah]

Hi 4P/early bird

I managed to find a packet on the web, but haven't checked the p&p yet, so I'll have to see if it's worth buying. I was thinking of getting a pot with a small ornamental grass and putting the eyebright in there, I wonder if it would work with something like liriope? Or would it get hidden? Or maybe something more 'fluffy' to plant it with, but I don't know what.
The website says it gets to 30cm. I've got loads of liriope in the garden.
Do you know if it flowers for long?

[4pygmies]

Evening now! Eyebright flowers from about June to October and I think it can vary in height from really low growing up to 35 cms. I would be careful about planting it with other plants particularly a grass because of its hemiparasitic qualities. I think there are several very closely related species so the height specs could vary quite a lot. It's a relatively common wild flower but is not well known as it's not very spectacular.

[Deleted]

I aquired one accidently, it must have been in with something else or perhaps a bird planted it. It grew in amongst some geraniums and was OK but, for me, I don't think that it would have been worth going out and buying seeds. As 4pygmies says, not very spectacular. It was only out of interest to see what it might do that stopped me from pulling it out because as it looked like a weed.

[Jonah]

Sorry not to have got back sooner, I tend to lose myself on the board sometimes!
I think I will forget about that one for now, if the plant is not very interesting, but thanks for the feedback folk. It's a shame, because the close up of the flower I saw made it look really stunning! Just goes to show looks can be deceiving! ;D