Scilla and relative 2021

[Tristan_He]

Just a common or garden Dutch hyacinth, but I like how it goes a bit wilder looking when it is out in the garden for a few years. The perfume is great too.



Hyacinthoides italica (I think?).

[Tristan_He]

The grape hyacinths are still looking good in the rockery.

Muscari 'Valerie Finnis' has self-seeded generously. As you can see the seedlings are very variable, with some reverting to the typical blue colour.



There are some nice intermediates too...





Muscari ambrosiacum is also out.

[Mariette]

Self sown Chionodoxas in our town place. The clumps are all slightly different. It would be meaningless to assign names to them they are obviously a hybrid swarm. The Scilla bifolia is also self sown but in our country place. It does spread but very thinly and it does not vary. Both pictures from first week of A (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) pril but not this year.

Whenever we stay in Sweden the second half of April, I admire the swarms of selfsown scilla and chionodoxa! It may well be worth selecting one or the other for floriferousness like the one You show. In my part of Germany such places are very rare and only recently I discovered a cemetery where , among few others, Scilla syn. Chionodoxa grows and produced this lovely hybrid.



Tristan, I think Your lost label one may be Scilla syn. Chionodoxa siehei, which used to be called forbesii, now occasionally forbesii hort.  Scilla forbesii was discovered to be a different plant and rather rare.

[Tristan_He]

Tristan, I think Your lost label one may be Scilla syn. Chionodoxa siehei, which used to be called forbesii, now occasionally forbesii hort.  Scilla forbesii was discovered to be a different plant and rather rare.

Thanks Mariette. The nomenclature of Chionodoxa is very confusing!

[Mariette]

Indeed! There are some German botanists working in the north and east of our country where scilla are often naturalised. From those experts I got some information about nomenclature, otherwise I´d be at a loss, I´m afraid.
Your Muscari ´Valerie Finnis´+ seedlings look beautiful! I must try that one again, obviously in a drier spot than where I planted it first.

Hyacinthoides ´Ruth McConell´, now with wide-spread bells, showing its hybrid origin.



´Amy Doncaster´was given to me as a hybrid - it´s well available in GB, I think.



Another bracteate selection from Britain is ´Green Lashes´with very odd flowers.



Nearer.



In this case, at least, the narrow leaves suggest tha it may be pure Hyacinthoides non-scripta.

[Tristan_He]

Your Muscari ´Valerie Finnis´+ seedlings look beautiful! I must try that one again, obviously in a drier spot than where I planted it first.

Drop me a pm if you want some seed of these Mariette. There is always plenty!

[Guff]

Over the years, I have been working on getting this patch of Scilla to get bigger and bigger. What I'm wondering is, do they produce offsets or grow from seeds? Guess these are either, Puschkinia or Mischtschenkoana.




Same Scilla patch, picture is from 2012

[Akke]

That’s a really nice field Guff, wouldn’t it do both seeding and produce offsets? Not having much experience in bulbs, just two years but with both puschkinia and mischtschenkoana, I can say that the first one flowers later ( Tulipa season) whereas Scilla Mischtschenkoana is really early (Galanthus/Crocus season). I like them both.
I’m curious if growing conditions changes the colours of Pusckinia, this sprimg I had a very pale one and one with a really dark blue stripe. They’ll be next to eachother next spring, I’ll see.
But first, autumn is coming with Prospero Autumnale.

[Guff]

Akke, thanks for the info. I'm thinking these are Pusckinia then.

[Akke]

Hi Guff

Considering flower season?!It looks like Puschkinia(my ‘dark one’), do you have a picture with flower and leaf? I don’t think the flower siza is very different but leaves are much wider in Mischtschenkoana. My Misch are a lighter shade of blue, but I’ll see what happens in another place next spring.
If you’re sure it’s Puschkinia, you might like to try Mischtschenkoana as well as it flowers pleasantly early.

Good luck
Akke

[Paul Cumbleton]

The RHS once did a trial of "Hyacinthaceae: Little blue bulbs". Of Chionodoxa, the trial report said:

 "Some botanists consider that Chionodoxa cannot be separated as a genus from Scilla. However, it is useful for communication purposes to continue to use the name Chionodoxa for these eight species as they are instantly recognisable as a group; they all have flowers with an obvious perianth tube (which Scilla has not) and wide, flattened filaments forming a central cone around the ovary and style."

In other words, Chionodoxa have a small "cup" or corona in the middle of the flower, just like a dafffodil but smaller. This is clearly seen in your picture, so yes this is a Chionodoxa.

The trial report can be downloaded for free (along with various other trial reports) from: https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/trials-awards/plant-trials/growerguides

Paul

[Guff]

Dates of the pictures, they flower around the same time as Erythronium, here.

[Akke]

I liked to read about the ‘little blue bulbs’, I like them.

No Erythronium yet, but there should be ‘Dens-canis’ coming spring. Timing sounds right though and it looks exactly like what I bought as Puschkinia. Once again, I think you’ll like Scilla Mischtschenkoana as well, pity I’m not allowed to send you seeds.

Akke

[Guff]

I have been working on a patch of Scilla Siberica Alba also. Not sure if I took any pictures this year, will come Spring 2022. I had collected all the seeds that I could and started a new bed.

This picture is from 2012

[Akke]

Looks good. As I have pots and pans, there’s no room for patches here, just a few Siberica and S. Alba. There is a really beautiful patch of Siberica for me to enjoy nearby, your patch looks much more crowded though.