Muscari

[Poterer]

I have never seen the plant elsewhere, but no doubt someone here will recognise the description and tell me that is is common.....................
I remember the same plant in my mother's garden going back many years and the clump only ever increasing in size very slowly indeed. Now in my own garden it will have only around 30 flower stems this year.
The leaves are lax and around 10-15mm wide and to 30cm long, and unremarkable except that they are completely evergreen. Although the clump of bulbs is probably no more than 15cm or so across, the rather untidy leaves make the clump look all of 60cm across. This evening the flowers, only just starting to open here in the Midlands, have a very faint scent.

I have often wondered about its identity and no description on the www comes particularly close.

I could post a photo' if that would help.

[Maggi Young]

Hello, Poterer... good to have you join us.
 A photo would be most welcome, NAY,  essential, if we are to have any hope of helping !

[Poterer]

A little bleached by the flash, and nothing to scale for size but hopefully my measurements in the orininal post should do....................

[Maggi Young]

Poterer, I think this is  a form of Muscari armeniacum
I do not know of any real muscari with truly evergreen foliage .....but with M. armeniacum the leaves do not die down until   late in the summer and then emerge again  in the autumn  .... it would thus not be too hard to get the idea that the foliage was evergreen, because it is dormant for such a short time.

[Poterer]

I have grown the standard garden centre armeniacum (presumably they are a selection of armeniacum???), and that is invasive and does not form really congested clumps.
Perhaps the plant is a form of armeniacum, but I am pretty certain the leaves never die down, though they obviously don't grow all year.
The clump is all that existed in my mother's garden so is probably well over 20 years from whatever she was given - which would not have been anything less than a small clump.

Thanks