Tiny bulbs
Kenneth Hixson (Thu, 19 Feb 2004 01:00:22 PST)

Hi All:
Scilla bifolia, blue, opened its' first flowers today alongside
a near white Cyclamen coum. Both are on the north side of the trunk
of a dawn redwood, so the Scilla would flower earlier elsewhere.
Chionodoxa, Scilla, and Chionoscilla are so common that it may not be
worth mentioning for Jane's list. I do wish these were more reliably
available. I've twice ordered Scilla gigantea alba from a source that
imports from Holland, and both times they flowered blue, which I already
have.

Barbara L. Weintraub wrote:

This "sand Lily" was one of the first things I ordered from Siskiyou
Rare Plants, and was disappointed every year when it flowered. Although it
had good broad petals, the flower texture was so thin you could almost see
through the petals. I've always assumed there were better forms/better
substanced flowers. Claude Barr, in "Jewels of the Plains" p106, says
"The flower may be little more than an inch or all of two inches wide, the
lobes, or petals, often straplike. The finest forms, however, have quite
wide petals." Thus I assume it varies and selected forms might be nicer.
FWIW, he also says "Several thick, moisture-storing roots, spreading from
a tiny crown". Thus this is not a bulb, corm, etc.
I would appreciate hearing from others who grow it, and can comment
on the substance of the flowers. I'd probably try to replace it if I could
find good substanced flowers. This probably would rate as "cute" rather than
"exquisite". It should be a good trough plant, if the trough could dry out
during the summer. Mine seemed to tolerate our wet winters fairly well, but
died out after several years.

Ken Z7 western Oregon