| Where the garden meets the wild | |
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MUSCARI GRAPE HYACINTH, TASSEL HYACINTH Hyacinthaceae (Hyacinth family) / Asparagaceae (Asparagus family) |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
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| Muscari
is one of the true violet-blue, bee-dazzling hyacinth kin of summer. Plant
it in swathes, on the flat or on a slope. Imagine a meadowful.
Imagine a wide blue boa of them along a path. These bulbs multiply, but do
begin with a noticeable quantity. Be happy from the start.
How to tell Muscari from similar flowers? The florets are grape-like: tubular, the petals joined all the way to the narrow mouth; and the mouth has 6 tiny lobes, or "teeth." Please don't confuse any of the Muscari we offer with common, weedy ones like M. armeniacum. And if you like what you see here, do take a look also at Bellevalia, Camassia, Fessia, Hyacinthoides, Hyacinthus and Scilla. |
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Photograph © |
Muscari
bourgaei Baker. Short, dense, cylindrical racemes of
vivid blue flowers with narrow white mouths bloom in May-July.
This Turkish
snowmelt species is native to wet alpine turf and stony slopes in W and S
Anatolia. Our plants descend from bulbs collected W of Egirdir. Zone 5, perhaps colder.
Bulb (Fall shipping only). $10.00 |
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Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog |
Muscari
dionysicum Rech. f. This majestic tassel hyacinth, the largest by
far, has also been called M. comosum 'Epirus Giant' and Leopoldia
weissii. It blooms
in May-June. Our plants descend from bulbs collected by Antoine Hoog
on Mt. Grammos, in Ioannina province, N Greece, in 1989. The plant is
60-80 cm (24-32") tall, with a whopping raceme of flowers up to 50 cm
(20") long. Imagine generous clumps of this in big outdoor
pots. Imagine it as the background in a blue border. Zone 5. Bulb (Fall shipping only). $5.50 |
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Muscari
discolor Boissier & Hausskn. ex Boissier. A grape
hyacinth. Short
cone-shaped racemes of dusky blue fertile flowers with wide cream mouths
bloom in March-April amid glaucous, vertical
strap leaves. Sometimes there is a ring of cream infertile flowers below
the fertile ones. This species is
native to SE Turkey. Our plants
descend from bulbs growing in karst in the Taurus Range, in the Aladaglar
(Red Mountains) near Chukurbag village.
Bulb (Fall shipping only). $15.00 |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Muscari
pinardi Boissier. Selected
for bloom. This tassel hyacinth is native around the Mediterranean
from Central Europe to Iran. The form we offer has also been called M. comosum 'Pinard' and Leopoldia comosa.
Our plants descend from bulbs collected in the
Taurus Mountains of Cilicia in Turkey in 1925. They have been reselected
for reliable flowering; with us they flower in June-July. The upper florets are violet-blue and sterile. The
lower florets are blue-grey with acid-green tips, and fertile. Height
15-25 cm (4-10"). Zone 5. Bulb (Fall shipping only). $2.00 |
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| This page was updated April 5, 2008. | |
