Peruvian Poseur
It’s guaranteed to turn heads – but not everything is quite as it seems with this ‘South American beauty’
WHEN Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus was handed a recently discovered plant to name, back in the late 18th Century, he was told that the exotic specimen came from Peru. As a result, the so-called ‘father of botany’ wasted no time in dubbing it Scilla peruviana, honouring its country of origin.
Over the intervening years this bulbous perennial has gained a host of common names that celebrate its far-flung heritage. I grew up referring to it as star of Peru, while others you might hear bandied about include Peruvian lily, Peruvian scilla or hyacinth of Peru.
Yet Linnaeus – the botanist who devised the system for naming plants and animals in Latin – had made a horrible howler. The plant is actually native to Spain, Portugal and Italy, with the confusion over its provenance due to samples arriving on a ship called The Peru.
Despite this blunder, Scilla peruviana has established itself as one of the highlights of late spring and early summer. Clusters of glossy, strap-shaped leaves make the perfect backdrop for stout, 10in stalks topped with large flower heads made up of about 100 starshaped, bluish-purple blooms.
It’s remarkably hardy for a Mediterranean plant and can withstand frosts down to -5C. However, it does need well-drained soil and a sheltered position in either full sun or partial shade. Try it in rock gardens, at the front of borders or planted en masse under trees. Another option is to raise it in containers.
Early autumn is the right time to plant bulbs of these head-turners, along with other scillas. They’ll all establish roots quickly in warm soil, ready to provide a show of colour between January and early autumn, depending on variety.
Native to Europe, Asia and southern Africa, scillas can be found growing in a wide range of locations, including woodland, seashores and meadows. Two species are indigenous to Britain: Scilla verna with its lilac blue flowers, and Scilla autumnalis, a rarer wildflower restricted to southern England and Wales. These both make fine garden plants, but there are actually about 100 varieties of scilla available to buy in Britain. Plants range in height from 3in to 15in, with flowers in many shades of blue, along with white, pink and purple. The nectar-rich blooms are a magnet to bees and other pollinators.
As they aren’t as popular as other spring-flowering bulbs, you’re unlikely to find a massive range on offer at your local garden centre or DIY store. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, try an online nursery that specialises in bulbs.
One of the earliest to flower is Scilla mischtschenkoana. Tiny spikes of pale blue flowers with a darker stripe running down each petal appear in January and February. They make a great partner for winter aconites and snowdrops. Pushing their way above the soil from March until April, the brilliant blue flowers of Scilla siberica are held on 5in-tall wiry stems. The flowers of S. siberica ‘Spring Beauty’ are larger, while S. siberica ‘Alba’ boasts white blooms.
Scilla bifolia produces 6in stems that carry masses of star-shaped, piercing blue flowers in February and March. It has given us some wonderful offspring. Both pink S. bifolia ‘Rosea’ and white ‘S. bifolia ‘Alba’ bloom slightly later than their parent.
Most scilla bulbs need planting in 4in-deep holes, making sure the small point on top is facing upwards. If you have heavy soil, sprinkle some horticultural grit in the bottom of each hole to improve drainage.
SCILLA peruviana and its varieties – ‘White Moon’ and ‘Caribbean Jewels Sapphire’ – are different. They need to be planted with the nose of the bulb just proud of the soil. The scale of some scillas means they’d be lost if you planted them frugally, so buy as many bulbs as you can and plant them in swathes. As a rule, space bulbs of smaller varieties about 4in apart in beds and borders, or you could naturalise scillas in light grass.
Scillas need very little care. The leaves of Scilla peruviana are more or less evergreen, but others will die back – to keep displays looking tidy, cut them back to ground level when they start to turn yellow. Avoid doing this any earlier as the foliage helps to charge bulbs for flowering the following year.
Some species will happily self-seed, as well as spreading by forming new bulbs underground. If flowers appear where they are not unwanted, don’t hesitate to tug bulbs up.