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Grape Hyacinths
​

March 2022 Plant of the Month

True Blue Grape-Hyacinths

Grape-hyacinths,muscari,spring bulbs,fragrant bulbs,spring flowers,naturalizing bulbs
Grape-hyacinths spread naturally creating drifts of blue.
easy bulbs,Grape-hyacinths,muscari,spring bulbs,fragrant bulbs,spring flowers,naturalizing bulbs
This mix of white and blue grape-hyacinths were sold together in a packet.
Grape-hyacinths,muscari,spring bulbs,fragrant bulbs,spring flowers,naturalizing bulbs
Flower clusters are comprised of bell-shaped flowers trimmed in white.
broad-leaf grape-hyacinths,Muscari latifolium
Broad-leaf grape-hyacinths are fancy compared to the common muscari.
spring flowering bulbs for containers
Grape-hyacinths do well in pots.
broad-leaf grape-hyacinths, Muscari latifolium
Broad-leaf grape-hyacinths (M. latifolium) bear two types of flowers on a single stem.
Picture
Grape-hyacinths mix well with lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis).
Common Name:  grape hyacinths
Botanical Name:  Muscari armeniacum
Form:   upright
Family: Asparagaceae
Genus:  Muscari
Species:  armeniacum
Plant Type: spring flowering perennial bulb
Mature Size: up to 8 inches
Growth: fast
Origin: Armenia, southeastern Europe
Hardiness Zone: 4 to 8
Foliage: narrow, strap-like, floppy, green, 12 inches long

Flowers: fragrant, blue with a white line along the rim of upside down urns in a tight pyrmidal cluster
Fruit: each pod bears 3 seeds
Exposure: sun to partial shade
Soil: well-drained

Uses:  cut flower, naturalizes, woodland's edge, planters, massing, borders, cottage gardens, small gardens
Propagation:   Lift and divide offsets in summer after flowering.
Pruning:  Don't cut back foliage when it's green.
​
Problems:  may become invasive
Comments
: 

Grape hyacinths are coveted for their varying shades of blue, their pleasant light fragrance and their ability to grow easily and prolifically. They spread via underground bulblets and seeds, which makes them perfect for naturalizing. Just throw them on the ground and plant them where they land. This planting method creates beautiful colourful drifts that look as though Mother Nature had planted them herself. Crocus, daffodils and snowdrops are also suitable for naturalizing.

Plant bulbs 3 inches deep and apart preferably in groups of 10 or more, in full sun in well draining soil in autumn. Their eager green, droopy, narrow leaves grow up to 12 inches long and appear very early in spring. The leaves are soon followed by leafless flower stalks that emerge from the centre of the leaves. Small urn shaped, deep blue fragrant flowers are tightly massed into a cone shape atop the stem. The cluster of flowers resemble a bunch of upside down grapes or miniature hyacinths, hence their common name of grape hyacinths. Flowering begins in March in many locations, and continue to the end of April. In summer, foliage dies down and the bulbs become dormant only to reappear again the following spring.

The are a few cultivated varieties that are even more beautiful and diverse than the species. Plant breeders have developed a stunning cultivar with white flowers, not blue, called 'White Magic' (Muscari aucheri 'White Magic'). Another popular cultivar is the broad-leaf grape-hyacinths (Muscari latifolium). They bear the usual urn shaped flowers except for the top of the flower cluster where there are light blue sterile blossoms. It has won multiple awards including the Bulb of the Year in Holland, UK and Germany as well as the Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticulture Society. There are many other varieties and cultivars that are widely available so you can enjoy a variety of these pretty spring treasures.
Picture
Muscari bulbs are available in fall. Plant pointed side up!
Picture
Each seed capsule contains 3 seeds.
'White Magic' grape-hyacinths,white flowering bulbs
A colony of White Magic grape- hyacinths.
'White Magic' muscari
'White Magic' grape hyacinths maybe tough to find as they are so popular.
Picture
Wood anemones (A. nemerosa) and muscari.
Picture
'White Magic' grape-hyacinths

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  • Home
  • About, Services, Contact
  • Ask Amanda
  • Roses
    • Types of Roses
    • Easy Roses
    • Climbing Roses
    • Portland's Rose Test Garden
    • Rose Insects & Diseases
    • Pruning Roses
    • Rose Sawfly
    • Rose Bloom Balling
  • Pruning Basics 101
    • Pruning Tools
    • Winter Pruning
    • Pruning Grapes
    • Pruning Clematis
    • Prune Your Own Garden Registration
  • Lawn Basics
    • Lawn Reno, Seed & Sod
    • Lawn Maintenance Schedule
    • Spring Lawn Care
    • Moss in Lawns
    • Lawn Alternatives
    • Lawn Grub Control
  • Mulch & Mulching
    • Living Mulches - Groundcovers
  • Propagation
    • Growing Seeds Outdoors
    • Growing Seeds Indoors
    • Taking Cuttings
    • Seed & Plant Catalogues
  • How to Garden Topics
    • Fall Garden Chores
    • Planting Know-How
    • Soil Building
    • Watering Tips & Techniques
    • Drought Gardening
    • Sheet Mulching, Lasagna Gardening
    • Cover Crops
    • Composting
    • Compost Tea
    • Houseplant Winter Care
    • Hummingbirds in Winter
    • Winterize Your Garden
    • Ponds in Winter
  • Growing Food
    • Spring Veggie Gardening
    • Crop Rotation, Succession & Companion Planting
    • Harvesting
    • Growing Potatoes
    • Winter Veggie Gardening
    • Taming Tomatoes
    • Speeding up Tomato Harvest
    • Tomato Tips
    • Saving Tomato Seeds
    • Tomato Troubles
  • Plant Pests 1
    • Plant Pests Part 2 - Controlling Insects
    • Garden Inspections
    • Helping Pollinators
    • Dogwood Anthracnose
    • Viburnum Leaf Beetle
    • Dormant Oil/Lime Sulfur
    • Japanese Beetles
    • Peony Blotch/Measles
    • Slugs & Snails
    • Horsetail, the Weed
    • June Beetle
    • Powdery Mildew
    • Soil Solarization
    • Rhododendron Leaf Spot
    • Plant Rusts
    • Black Knot
  • Container Growing
    • Choosing a Container
  • Feeding Plants 101
    • Fertilizers & Ratios
    • Nutritional Deficiencies & Toxicities
    • Organic Plant Food
  • Plant of the Month
    • Spring Flowering Bulbs
    • Colourful Fall Plants
    • Abelia
    • American Sweetgum
    • Ash (Fraxinus) Trees
    • Astilbes
    • Aubretia, Rock Cress
    • Aucuba, Japanese Spotted Laurel
    • Autumn Crocus
    • Bear's Breeches
    • Beautyberry, Callicarpa
    • Black-eyed Susans
    • Bleeding Heart, Lamprocapnos spectabilis
    • Calla Lilies
    • Dahlias
    • Daylily
    • Delphiniums
    • Devil's Walking Stick, Aralia spinosa
    • Dwarf Alberta Spruce
    • Dwarf Burning Bush
    • Fall Asters
    • Flowering Currants
    • Flowering Quince
    • Fritillaria
    • Garden Peonies
    • Garden Phlox
    • Ginkgo biloba
    • Grape-hyacinths
    • Handkerchief or Dove Tree
    • Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
    • Heathers
    • Hellebores, Lenten roses
    • Himalayan Sweet Box
    • Jack-in-the-pulpit, Cobra Lily
    • Japanese Anemones
    • Japanese Forest Grass
    • Japanese Maples
    • Japanese Skimmia
    • Japanese Spurge
    • Laurustinus viburnum
    • Lavenders
    • Lily-of-the-Valley Shrub, Pieris japonica
    • Mediterranean Spurge
    • Mexican Mock Orange
    • Montana Clematis
    • Mountain Ash
    • Oriental Poppies
    • Oriental Lilies
    • Paperbark Maple
    • Pink Dawn Bodnant Viburnum
    • Poinsettias
    • Oregon Grape Holly
    • Ornamental Kale
    • Peruvian Lily, Alstroemeria
    • Phalaenopsis, Moth Orchids
    • Persian Silk Tree
    • Portuguese Laurel
    • Rose of Sharon
    • Sneezeweed, Helenium
    • Snowberry
    • Snowdrops
    • Star Magnolia
    • Strawberry Tree, Pacific Madrone
    • Stewartia
    • Torch Lily, Kniphofia uvaria
    • Tree Peonies
    • Tuberous Begonias
    • Virginia Creeper
    • Weigela
    • Winterhazel, Corylopsis
    • Winter Camellia, C. sasanqua
    • Wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens
    • Witch Hazel
    • Wood Anemones
    • Yews
  • Garden Tour Blogs
  • Monthly Flower Arrangements
  • Website Index
  • Subscribe
  • Need Help?