Dear PBSers, This is the start of the great Northern Bulb Explosion, a season when Daffodils emerge, Tulips pop up, Hyacinths and many more turn the winter greys and brown into a riot of color seemingly overnight. A season where the tiny get left behind. Before I forget or let these pass, I am enjoying the tiny Scilla bifolia which have lightly self sown about the garden. This is a small bulb - maybe the tiniest hardy bulb - in my garden. Each bulb has two leaves, dark green-brown, about an inch long and less than 1/5 that width. If it were not for the flowers you'd be hard pressed to find the leaves among the emerging cool growing weed seedlings. The flowers are small too, but a pleasing bright blue - not the intense blue of Scilla sibirica, but a clear deep sky blue color. These little spots of color pop up in a lot of odd places here and there. Clumps may have a 8 or 10 flowers and show more 'presence', but the scattered blue bits never fail to cheer us up. The blue form is typical, but pink and white forms are also available in the trade. I bought a number of each years ago, but only a couple white have persisted and the pink are long gone, but the blue persists and expands in waves - good years more, rough years less. I don't know what scatters the seed about, but seedlings have appeared yards away in spots where they must have been carried . There small size makes them totally unobtrusive and soon they'll be hidden by large plants as they emerge. With no care they have ben totally hardy here in the Kansas City area. There's a single picture on the wiki from Jim McK http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… but many others on the web including this 'new find' of a rich blue: http://google.com/imgres/… (You'll have to copy and paste to make this a link, but worth a look) The bulbs are usually available in the fall and modestly priced, but may take some searching out. For their brief season they are in bloom it is a few pennies well spent. These little treasures need a plug now and then as they get literally lost in the profusion of larger showier bulbs. Enjoy Jim W. -- Dr. James W. Waddick 8871 NW Brostrom Rd. Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711 USA Ph. 816-746-1949 Zone 5 Record low -23F Summer 100F +
