PBS TOW 23rd Feb 03 - British Native bulbs and their allies

JFlintoff@aol.com JFlintoff@aol.com
Sun, 23 Feb 2003 14:14:16 PST
Robin
    One bulb that you did not mention that is a favorite with me is Scilla verna, a member of the Lusitanian flora (also found in the Pyranees).  Its dwarfness, compactness and floriferousness make it suitable for the rock garden or a trough; I wish it would self-seed more.

     I was given last autumn a form of Scilla non-scripta called ' Ranmore ' with whitish flowers tipped with blue.  Hope it is as exquisite as it sounds.  Another interesting form is a white with enlarged bracts at the base of the flower stalks i.e. f.bracteata.  I saw a blue-flowered bracteate form at the Chelsea Physic Garden in 1983 and have been searching for one ever since.  It was surprisingly pretty.

     Another old favorite here is Narcissus pseudonarcissus.  I've lost the one I got from a friend in the Lakes District ( the source of Wordsworth's daff0downdilly ) alas but other forms are easy here and occasionally self-seed.

Jerry John Flintoff
Vashon Island,WA zone 8


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