Muscari ... and some relatives 2009

[Janis Ruksans]

Two rare muscari:
M. sivrihisardaglarensis described by Turkish botanists, growing on Sivrihisardag
Another - one of the rarest and the best - Muscari adilii known only from 3 localities in each around 100 specimens only. On the first picture as it looks in wild at seed time, on second its seedlings in my collection. I collected 10 seeds and others saw around original plants. It grows on pure white chalkstone slopes. They bloomed in the third spring and now I have second generation of seedlings and hope to offer them next year. It was offered by P. Christian last year but description in his catalogue didn't match with how looks original plant, so I'm doubtful about correct naming,
Janis

[Oron Peri]

Janis
Both are superb!!!
It is the first time i see a photo of these two species.
It seems M. adillii is very floriferuos, can you tell the altitude of where it is found growing.[ not the location]

Thank you very much for showing these.

[Janis Ruksans]

Muscari adilii today and Bellevalia crassa in garden and in wild (another great rariety earlier known only from one locality but our team found another locality for it)
Janis

[Janis Ruksans]

Janis
Both are superb!!!
It is the first time i see a photo of these two species.
It seems M. adillii is very floriferuos, can you tell the altitude of where it is found growing.[ not the location]

Thank you very much for showing these.

Muscari adilii - locus classicus, 990 m
Janis

[Sinchets]

Some great pics Janis. Is the B.crassa from seed? If so how long should I expect to wait between seed germination and flowering?

[Ezeiza]

Oron, thanks for your comments. Yet, the seed must have been old in all cases. We have many desert species and they are grown in pure drainage material with no problems.

[Sinchets]

At the risk of bringing this back down to earth with a large bump- Muscari 'Baby's Breath' (?)

[Lesley Cox]

But thanks all the same Simon. I've just bought this so am pleased to see what it is like. I had expected it to be paler though.

[ashley]

I had expected it to be paler though.

Yes mine's paler but could be wrong or a seedling, not least because it lacks the reputed scent.  That's a nice one Simon. 

[Lvandelft]

But thanks all the same Simon. I've just bought this so am pleased to see what it is like. I had expected it to be paler though.

Here is a picture of it, I made last week in the Connoisseur Collection.
And for comparing one of M. Valerie Finnis too.

Muscari Baby's Breath
Muscari Valerie Finnis

[Sinchets]

Maybe my mistake- I wasn't sure so I added a question merk. The other pics I saw online for Valerie Fnnis were also pale, but also said it was a better plant as the leaves came up later with the flowers and were less straggly. Mine has had leaves for a while and they are very straggly now it has started to flower. The other option is that they could be seedlings.

[ashley]

Thanks Luit.  These look more or less identical ... and they're not even green and white

[Oron Peri]

Luit, i must agree with Ashley, they seems to be the same cultivar... [But a very nice one]

Staying with Bellevalia, here is B. hermonis, a colorfull species that blooms  soon after snow melts,
usually at altitudes of above 1700m.

[Lvandelft]

Ashley and Oron, I agree with you both. I don't see the difference either! 
I know that Muscari Valerie Finnis is having Plant Breeders Rights and may not be propagated and sold free in the trade.
The Muscari Baby's Breath was raised (found) by an English woman named Jenny Robinson and this Muscari
was offered first in the trade by Broadleigh Gardens.
Jenny Robinson has stated that there is a difference between both. At least she has told this
to the PBR holder of Muscari Valerie Finnis.
May be there is someone out there who can tell us more who Jenny Robinson is??

[Lvandelft]

I just found out that Jenny Robinson was the former Holder of the National Muscari Collection.
I read it in the RHS trial pages and here is the link to have a look at it.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8FC5E3C3-53A6-4EF2-93B1-FC1C65ED169D/0/hyacinthaceae05.pdf

The extract I copied here:

Muscari ‘Jenny Robinson’ (syn. ‘Baby’s Breath’)
Plants of this cultivar were entered in the trial as ‘Baby’s
Breath’, however, this is a translation of a Greek vernacular
name for the plant and as such is unacceptable under the
rules of the International Code of Nomenclature for
Cultivated Plants. After discussion with the former Muscari
National Plant Collection® holder, Jenny Robinson, who
introduced this form from Cyprus, it was agreed to name it
after her. The species to which this cultivar belongs has not
yet been established; its origin suggests it should be a
variant of M. neglectum, although it looks more like a form
of M. armeniacum which is not known to grow in Cyprus

So M. Baby Breath should be named as M Jenny Robinson now according to RHS.

But I still don't see any difference


and the trial tells nothing about M. Valerie Finnis, just in a little blue bulb selection the following note:

Muscari ‘Jenny Robinson’ AGM Autumn S & OG A very pale Muscari which has dense racemes of soft powdery
(syn. ‘Baby’s Breath’) blue flowers, similar to ‘Valerie Finnis’ in colour but slightly paler.
( The leaves are different from those of ‘Valerie Finnis’, being shorter
and during the trial period they remained in better condition
through the winter and early spring. Scented.