A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 Muscari (Grape Hyacinth)

Hello All,

I've not posted in a while. I've been busy with my honey bees and with helping take care of my dad after his open heart surgery. By the way, he is doing very well. He's still very weak, but doing well.

I took a walk through my front yard today to kind of check on things and I came across something that I don't know what it is. There are several (maybe 25 or 30) of these little guys growing in the yard. I believe that they must be wild because of how they seem to have popped up everywhere... not a one in a flower bed! They are very small, but they have the prettiest blooms. And, though it is not a very strong fragrance like that of a lilac, it is still very nice to the nose!! To me it seemed kind of reminiscent of the faint smell of a lilac mixed with the faint smell of a ripe concord grape. But, my nose may just be screwy!!!

It was once said that a picture is worth a thousand words. So, without further ado please welcome what I have dubbed "That Purplish Thing!"

Here's a picture of the whole plant. I placed a quarter beside it to give you an idea how small it is.


Here's a picture of what the bulb looks like. Again, the quarter is there for size comparison.

Here's a picture of the blooms from the top. As you can see, they form in a cluster around a single stem.

Finally, here is a picture of the blooms from underneath them. I took this picture to show that it appears that the blooms are hollow at the bottom.... kind of like a bell.


If any one can help me identify these little guys, I'd sure appreciate it. By the way, I really need to know the common name for them. I'm just not very familiar with scientific/botanical names.... sorry!

Thanks for looking. And as always, thanks in advance for any help that you might be able to lend.

Robert

Looks a lot like Muscari(Grape Hyacinth) to me....anyone else think so? I don't grow them though......

Thanks a bunch Loz!! From the pictures that I have been able to find through Google, you are right on the money!!

It's kind of late to do it today, but I think that tomorrow I will try transplanting all of them that I can find. Right now they are just growing "willie-nillie" in the yard. About 99% of them are in places where the mower will cut them down, and I don't want to do that. I think I'll make a bed for them that will be close to our deck so that we can see and smell them!!

Again, thanks for your help!!

Robert

I agree with Loz. It's a Grape Hyacinth.

GardenGuy, thanks for you input also. You slipped that one in on my as I was replying to Loz!!

Robert,
When you replant them,
watch where the dying flower drops over
and you'll have little tiny seeds *where the flower was* and when that flower stalk falls over, you'll get new one's next year..
They will reseed prolifically for you...

Thanks Weezie.... that's good to know! I have always loved Hyacinths, but had never seen any like these. They are waaaayyyyy smaller than the ones that I have gotten in the past from Wally World. And though they are much smaller, they are still pretty and have a good smell to them.... I like that!!

Thanks again for everyone's help!

Robert

Very nice find . . . last year I was pleasantly surprised to find forget-me-nots growing without my having done a thing.

I bought about six of them, then looked out on the lot to see some just like what I'd just bought.

Isn't it very nice to find these pleasant surprises? I may be wrong, but I believe that our little bird friends may play a mojor roll in such surprises! Rock on little birdies!!!!!!

yup, that's muscari. they're a really nice flower! pretty hardy. they bloom early and then will lose their leaves and then, in the fall, the leaves will grow out again (no second blooming tho).

the rabbits like them - the leaves on mine are always nibbled down as they're right in the path the local wild rabbit takes on his/her morning stroll...