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Friday, April 6, 2012

Scilla siberica 'Spring Beauty' planted in the Patio cracks & Rock Garden

Scilla siberica 'Spring Beauty', also known as Siberian or wood squill, blooming in our little rock garden.
Scilla siberica 'Spring Beauty', also known as Siberian or wood squill, blooming in our little rock garden.
Scilla siberica, also known as Siberian or wood squill, are a bright greeting in the springtime. These little bulbs, which bloom at 6 inches tall, have persisted very well in our garden for four years. They naturalize readily from their seed, and can carpet entire sections of woodland with time. Their name does not exactly identify their descent, as they are native to southern Russia and Turkey.

At Gilmore Gardens, we poked them into the cracks on our stone patio. They are fun to look forward to every spring as a bright blue contrast to the grey stones.

Also, I planted up a little rock garden under one of our mature maple tree. This mounded dry shade area was not much good for growing grass. I was inspired to try this rock garden after seeing a photo of an English garden that had large stones and an infilling of Scilla and Cyclamen.

Construction for the rock garden was simple: plenty of soil, humus and compost was mounded up, and then the stones were placed. Little common purple violets follow these scilla, and then I often plant it up with some white impatients for the summer months.  Ferns have not survived as well, probably from the lack of moisture and maybe from the tiny feet that run over this area.

Scilla siberica by the patio.
Scilla siberica by the patio.
Scilla siberica in the patio.  Just a little poker can make a hole enough to tuck them into crevices on the ground or in walls.
Scilla siberica in the patio Just a little poker can make a hole enough to tuck them into crevices on the ground or in walls.

My little garden girl doing her best to make her nose blue with the pollen :)
My little garden girl doing her best to make her nose blue with the pollen :)
Scilla siberica popping up in March in our zone 5 garden. Their seedlings look like tiny chives or piece of grass until they mature. Do not pluck them out, least you cast off your reward!
Scilla siberica popping up in March in our zone 5 garden. Their seedlings look like tiny chives or piece of grass until they mature. Do not pluck them out, least you cast off your reward!

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for the post. I have these growing in our kitchen garden, but I've never known what they were. (I usually called them nice blue flowers)

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  2. I love my scilla in early spring..it is still blooming in the cold...yours is lovely around and between the rocks

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  3. I love these little bulbs too they have quite an intense blue, yours look lovely, Frances

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  4. These are so pretty. They are so pretty are so bright blue!
    They look especially pretty against Graces cute button nose:)

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  5. Such lovely little flowers, I was thinking that I needed to buy more, but then noticed all the seedling leaves, in a few years I will have plenty! Yours look really lovely on your rockery and patio, making themselves at home with their seeds!

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  6. I love the way you have planted these into the paving. Do you have other plants that colonise the paving, low creeping thyme or Camomile? As you say they will grow in woodland I don’t think they’d grow for me but if they did they would give a nice combination with the flowering almond. Christina

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