Discover little BLUE BEAUTIES
Scilla, chionodoxa, muscari and Iris reticulata bring a flash of vivid blue to pots and borders. Val Bourne explains how to grow them
Chionodoxa looks very similar to a scilla, but the sepals are fused together
Asurprising number of early spring flowers tend to be sturdy, miniature, weather-resistant bulbs in shades of blue. It’s the perfect colour to sprinkle among yellow daffodils, such as jaunty ‘Jetfire’ with its orange trumpet and willowy ‘WP Milner’. Scilla siberica (left) is a dazzler, with relatively large, downward-facing cobaltblue bells enhanced by bright-green, shiny foliage. It thrives in dappled shade and forms colonies from seed without being a nuisance. ‘Spring Beauty’ is said to have the best f lowers, but the species Scilla siberica is still superb and easier on the purse. Scilla bifolia, the alpine squill, is found in central and southern Europe and Turkey, so give it a sunny edge. It self-seeds a little too enthusiastically for me and the smaller, upward-facing starry flowers are a less showy, violet-blue. In a roomy hotspot plant Scilla peruviana for its winter rosette of foliage and dome of sci-fi flowers. Known as the Portuguese squill, it only grows wild in the Western Mediterranean and confusion over its name arose because the bulbs came via a ship named The Peru. Chionodoxa looks very similar to a scilla, but the sepals are fused together to make a tube. The stamens have flattened stalks, which allowed botanists to separate two very similar bulbs. The common name, glory-of-the snow, refers to its wild position on high alpine slopes, but it isn’t hard to grow and pops up in grass, or self-seeds in a barren position. ‘Blue Giant’ has white-throated blue flowers and grey-green foliage; and there’s white and pink forms. Muscari is a bumblebee favourite and its common name of grape hyacinth refers to the tight cluster of small, hyacinthscented flowers. Admittedly some are adept at producing offsets that enable it to spread like a weed. Muscari armeniacum is almost impossible to eradicate, so grow it in pots or let it roam in a wilder area, or on the sunny side of a hedge. Bees will love it, but deadhead before it sets seed. Luckily lots of grape hyacinths do make tight clumps and vibrant Muscari aucheri ‘Blue Magic’ has bell-shaped flowers with delicate white margins, topped by a paler tuft of flowers. ‘Ocean Magic’ is a paler sky blue, while ‘Jenny Robinson’ has a more slender, longer f lower spire. M. armeniacum ‘Valerie Finnis’ is pale blue washed in spring-green and the light blue flowers of ‘Helena’ are topped in grey-white. These paler hues show up in shadier positions and last for weeks. Raising them up in a plant theatre allows you to enjoy their intricate blooms. Taller, broad-leaved Muscari latifolium does well in garden borders or a pot with tight clusters of almost-black flowers with a violet-blue tuft. ‘Grape Ice’ has a spike of dull-purple bells with a paler top that starts off green and fades to white.
Robust irises
Reticulate irises, usually listed under Iris histrioides or I. reticulata, come in many shades of blue. The most robust are forms of Turkish I. histrioides with weatherresistant f lowers about 8cm (3in) across, and the falls are always marked in yellow. ‘Lady Beatrix Stanley’ is the best blue, despite having been collected in the 1920s, by the lady herself. There are three similar, pale blue hybrids; almost-grey ‘Katharine Hodgkin’, paler ‘Frank Elder’ and lightly dappled, sky-blue ‘Sheila Ann Germaney’. Taller, slender irises, more allied to the Middle Eastern species I. reticulata, need better drainage. Easy-to-grow hybrids include gentian-blue ‘Harmony’ with a yellow crest and subtle white striations and lobelia-blue and dark violet ‘Gordon’ with an orange beard above white splashes. They’ll all light up spring at ground level. ✿