A couple of years ago, at a garden show, I found a company specialising in Grape Hyacinths. Normally considered to be something of a pest, Grape Hyacinths are most often seen in the front garden they have completely taken over, invading from a neighbour's who will swear blind they have no such thing, determinedly taking over some terrace or corner, sweeping your carefully planned and diverse spring planting ahead of it, or weirdly and spontaneously in a plant pot or border where it wasn't planted. It is (one of the) great invasive bulbs.
The lady who grew them in many fancy varieties had other opinions. "This one is delicate," she said, "This one won't spread! This one smells like peppermint thins!" Suitably intrigued, I filled a paper bag with bulbs. The results have been diverse, and haven't spread -- although my garden in an intense inter-plant competition area, so possibly they would in a more open environment.
The sky blues and the almost whites are delicate, pretty things with - indeed - a pepperminty scent. The black/purple varieties have a weirdly anatomical air - one for the gruesome garden. I also have a deeply-cut and slashed double variety, which hardly looks like a grape hyacinth at all; but my camera refused to focus on it, possibly confused by the smashed-looking petals.
Their broad tolerance of conditions and cheery commitment to flowering no matter what cheers me massively, and it's great that I've managed to get grape hyacinths into my garden. Interesting varieties - whoah, a yellow muscari !? a tassel-head species, which is also edible! - make the whole thing even more fun.
The lady who grew them in many fancy varieties had other opinions. "This one is delicate," she said, "This one won't spread! This one smells like peppermint thins!" Suitably intrigued, I filled a paper bag with bulbs. The results have been diverse, and haven't spread -- although my garden in an intense inter-plant competition area, so possibly they would in a more open environment.
The sky blues and the almost whites are delicate, pretty things with - indeed - a pepperminty scent. The black/purple varieties have a weirdly anatomical air - one for the gruesome garden. I also have a deeply-cut and slashed double variety, which hardly looks like a grape hyacinth at all; but my camera refused to focus on it, possibly confused by the smashed-looking petals.
Their broad tolerance of conditions and cheery commitment to flowering no matter what cheers me massively, and it's great that I've managed to get grape hyacinths into my garden. Interesting varieties - whoah, a yellow muscari !? a tassel-head species, which is also edible! - make the whole thing even more fun.
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