Scilla peruviana

[Graham Catlow]

I wonder if anyone can offer some advice please?
I have had Scilla peruviana in the garden for several years but it has failed to flower. I moved it a couple of years ago to see if that was the problem but still no flowering. It is in full sun in well-drained compost. There doesn’t seem to be a full dormant period, if that is necessary, and the leaves remain green all year. I wondered if I should force a dormancy but don’t know when to do that. It continues to increase and the bulbs are compacted together.
I can't find any useful information via a Google search.

Graham

[Rodger Whitlock]

Scilla peruviana seems to be particular about conditions if it is to flower. I have it here, and it flowers reliably. The site is a moderately heavy soil in full sun on the south side of the house, and goes bone dry in summer. It's in the same bed as Iris unguicularis. As I write, the foliage is starting to yellow and die back. It will be completely gone by the end of summer, but once the weather cools and becomes damper in fall, it will start to re-emerge.

It's always been a good performer where I have it.

Yet I have heard complaints from people living in Vancouver that it won't flower for them at all!

The critical factor would appear to be soil that goes bone dry in summer.

I notice you describe the soil you have your Scilla peruviana in as "well-drained". Is this a code word for "sandy"? If so, consider moving the plant to a site with soil of more body. Many bulbs, though they demand dry, warm summer dormancy, do NOT like lean sandy soil. They are generally heavy feeders (the size of their storage organ, the bulb, is the clue) and need a nutrient-retentive soil.

[Hans J]

Hi Graham,

I have found Scilla peruviana by my travels in Spain 1999 in June in Andalusia , near Grazalema.
The plants growing in open maccia  on slopes in full sun , the altitude was 1100m , the ground was calky , in this area also was growing Helleborus foeditus and Paeonia broteroi .

Maybe this will give you a idea about the cultivation !
 
Greetings
Hans

[Graham Catlow]

Thanks Roger and Hans,
Hans - its always useful to know how things grow naturally.
Roger - I moved it from fairly heavy soil to, as you correctly describe, sandy compost as it wasn't flowering in the original place. It has always been south facing in full sun, but has never gone dormant. The summer weather here over the past few years has been fairly damp and cool to say the least so it won't have had that drying out period. I think I will feed it for a few weeks and then dig it up and dry it off. I will then replant it in more suitable compost in the autumn and see what happens next spring.

Graham

[Lesley Cox]

My experience is much like Rodger's, with good soil going very dry in summer, when the bulbs do go dormant, in the foliage. I suspect the roots are still active or at least don't die away like, say, Narcissus. I get quite a lot of seed from mine too and have had both white and very dark blue seedlings from the original mid blue. The dark ones are very jewel-like and attractive.

For me, they flower best when badly overcrowded.

[Rodger Whitlock]

One point I failed to make in my previous posting: my plantings are alongside a concrete walkway, which probably leaches lime into the soil, slowly but steadily. IOW, adequate calcium may be important.

[rob krejzl]

S. peruviana is generally thought of as a weed here in Tassie, our 'cool' quasi-mediterranean climate suiting it very well. I've removed hundreds from my half acre of slightly acidic coastal sand and still haven't finished. Given a little summer irrigation it scarcely enters dormancy, but that doesn't seem to stop it flowering. Nor does congestion in dinner-plate sized clumps or lean sandy soil. This and Lesley's observation that it flowers better when congested seems at odds with a need for heavy feeding. One difference that does strike me between here and back in the UK is warmth - our summer temps average in the mid twenties celsius but max daytime temps usually spike into the low thirties for days at a time. It's also true that the clumps I remove have the bulbs at or very near the surface, so not insulated by any soil during the summer. So perhaps cool summers are the critical factor?

[Graham Catlow]

Thank you Lesley, Hans, Roger and Rob.
I will take all your points and try to work out the best situation I can in my particular circumstances.
Rob - one mans weed is another mans horticultural challenge.
Graham

[David Nicholson]

Some lovely stands of Scilla peruviana at Knightshayes Court last week. It must like Devon's climate.

[rob krejzl]

one mans weed is another mans horticultural challenge

I used to treasure it back in the UK. It looked at it's best just before the flowers opened when the bracts set off the dark blue of the flowers; en masse it palls a little (especially in a domestic setting). Once I started opening up new garden beds it started self-seeding, so I lost my residual admiration. So it goes.