Scilla maderensis
Jane McGary (Sun, 29 May 2011 17:07:03 PDT)

Janet wrote

Note spelling change in subject line.

Terry Laskiewicz and I were very impressed by seeing this plant in
spectacular flower at Kew last fall, and Terry tracked down a
European seed source and obtained seeds for both of us. Mine haven't
germinated yet but I have high hopes. Ordinarily seeds of Scilla
(broadly speaking, prior to the splitting up of the genus recently)
germinate well, and I have grown many species without a problem.

Scilla maderensis, or whatever it's called now, is a large species
with striking violet bulbs, which the gardeners at Kew had planted
even with the soil surface. The flowering stems are tall and lavishly
supplied with flowers of a lovely lavender hue. It may be a little
tender but some of Kew's bulbs had been risked in the open rock
garden. I've been growing other western Mediterranean species in
conditions colder than anything experienced at Kew, so I'd expect
this species to be hardy at least into the low 20s F.

As I've observed before, many people avoid the whole genus Scilla
because it has at times included the present genus Hyacinthoides,
home of the dreaded Spanish bluebell, H. campanulata. If you don't
grow any Scilla species, you're missing out on a lot of good plants.
Currently performing in the garden here is S. monophylla, in both
rock garden and rough grass, a very pretty blue, small and
well-behaved, and an attractive companion to the small
yellow-flowered Delphinium luteum also in the rock garden. (For that
matter, even the Spanish bluebells that infest my new garden looked
pretty good mingling with Narcissus 'Hawera'. which I planted not
knowing what lurked nearby. They're through now and I'll dig them out
and stick them under a huge Douglas fir where nothing else grows.)

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA