Scilla litardierei

Scilla litardierei has a botanical name that is near impossible to say, so let’s just refer to it as the wonderful Amethyst Meadow Squill. This hardy bulb has a big personality! First grown in gardens as far back as 1827, it produces broad-based heads of flowers in a lovely mid-blue, that just verges on purple. In bud, it looks rather like a grape hyacinth (Muscari), with the same mossy greenness to the tight, knobbly, unopened flowers. But in bloom, it is feathery in appearance, with between 40-60 flat-faced star-shaped flowers per stem. When fully open, the individual flowers show a fluff of dark-tipped stamens. Also, the colour stays in the flowers after they have withered—a good, strong, clear blue. 

The leaves are narrow and dark green, and as they emerge just before the flowers, are still in good shape at flowering time. This Scilla is ideal for naturalising on banks, or can be grown in flower beds, the front of borders or in containers. It is so highly regarded that the Royal Horticultural Society have seen fit to award it the Award of Garden Merit—essentially meaning that it will not disappoint!