{"id":3653,"date":"2022-04-04T06:10:47","date_gmt":"2022-04-04T14:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3653"},"modified":"2022-04-04T06:10:47","modified_gmt":"2022-04-04T14:10:47","slug":"gaping-at-grapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/gaping-at-grapes\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaping at Grapes"},"content":{"rendered":"

I saw the season\u2019s first grape hyacinth yesterday.\u00a0 It was a little early, but clearly it was positioned in the best possible spot and flowered bravely despite making an appearance on a day when temperatures were more wintery than spring-like.\u00a0 Had I been willing to get down on my knees to sniff its small flowerhead, I would have caught just a hint of the characteristic sweet muscari fragrance.<\/p>\n

The brave grape hyacinth was a common one, known botanically as Muscari armeniacum, or, in some sources, Muscari botryoides.\u00a0 A certain amount of name-related confusion seems to reign in the horticulture trade, but common \u201cgrape hyacinths\u201d are characterized by \u201cgrapes\u201d, which are dark, blue-purple bell-shaped flowers clustered into a tight, narrow cones at the top of each slender stalk.\u00a0 Theoretically, grape hyacinths grow between six and eight inches tall.\u00a0 The one I spotted was barely four inches, probably owing to its early-rising nature.\u00a0 As the weather warms up, it will be joined by scores of somewhat taller grape hyacinth siblings, because grape hyacinths are nothing if not prolific.<\/p>\n

Like daffodils and some other well-loved spring-flowering plants, grape hyacinths are long-lived. \u00a0Established clumps, left on their own, will naturalize and often outlive the individuals who planted them.\u00a0 You can also dig up a clump and take them with you when you move from one house to another.\u00a0 Positioned in a sunny spot, or even under a deciduous tree, the clump will start the business of making itself at home immediately and reproduce without any intervention at all.<\/p>\n

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If you look closely at grape hyacinth family relationships, you will find the genus Muscari is part of the Asparagaceae family, home to that other spring favorite, edible asparagus.\u00a0 Both are harbingers of spring, but other similarities are obvious only to plant taxonomists and geneticists.\u00a0 Muscari armeniacum, not surprisingly, hails originally from Armenia and other parts of southeastern Europe.\u00a0 Garden and plant historian Denise Wyles Adams says that the plants were introduced in 1596, which means that they have been around in domestic cultivation somewhere (probably in Europe, as well as their native areas) since long before that.<\/p>\n

Anything that has been popular for as long as grape hyacinth will have attracted the attention of amateur and professional plant breeders.\u00a0 Plant merchandisers carry lots of varieties every fall.\u00a0 I am very partial to \u2018Valerie Finnis\u2019, which is big\u2014sometimes as tall as eight inches\u2014bold, and pale blue, making a nice contrast with its darker relations. \u2018Baby\u2019s Breath\u2019 is an even lighter shade.\u00a0 If pink is your cup of tea, try \u2018Pink Sunrise\u2019.\u00a0 White-flowered varieties like \u2018Siberian Tiger\u2019 also play well with grape hyacinths in other shades.<\/p>\n

In the bi-colored domain, \u2018Touch of Snow\u2019 is dark blue-purple with a lighter blue floral topknot.<\/p>\n

Some people must have double everything, and for them, merchandisers carry varieties like \u2018Blue Spike\u2019, which looks the way I imagine a normal grape hyacinth would look if you stuck the end of the stalk in a live electrical outlet.\u00a0 Another double with bi-colored blue and white flowers is \u2018Double Beauty\u2019.<\/p>\n

Muscari armeniacum is not the only muscari species around.\u00a0 Muscari azureum features slightly looser flowerheads striped in pale and darker blue.\u00a0 The unfortunately named Muscari neglectum is a tri-color, with lower florets that are purple-black edged in white, and upper florets of lighter blue-lavender. Muscari macrocarpum \u2018Golden Fragrance\u2019 is true to its varietal name, with lower bell-shaped florets of yellow-gold and topknots of purple.<\/p>\n

While the number of grape hyacinth varieties is not endless, it is certainly large. Once you have identified varieties that you like, the most important thing to remember is to buy lots of bulbs.\u00a0 I would start with at least 50 and plant them in odd numbered groups in locations where they will be easy to see.\u00a0 The edges of garden beds are excellent spots, as are rock gardens or containers.\u00a0 The ephemeral nature of the flowers and foliage means that the whole grape hyacinth show will be over by the end of spring, so they can easily make way for larger plants.<\/p>\n

Though grape hyacinths are fall-planted bulbs, it pays to think about them now.\u00a0 At about the same time as this year\u2019s foliage begins to go brown, vendors will be sending out the first of the fall bulb catalogs.\u00a0 Get a jump on next year\u2019s spring display by ordering early.\u00a0 Van Engelen\/Scheepers has a good selection.\u00a0 Find them at 23 Tulip Drive, P.O. Box 638, Bantam, CT 06750; (860) 567-8734<\/a>; \u00a0www.vanengelen.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Another great source is Brent and Becky\u2019s Bulbs, 7900 Daffodil Lane\u00a0 |\u00a0 Gloucester, VA 23061; (877) 661-2852; www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Both companies offer print catalogs.<\/p>\n

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\"Grape<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I saw the season\u2019s first grape hyacinth yesterday.\u00a0 It was a little early, but clearly it was positioned in the best possible spot and flowered bravely despite making an appearance on a day when temperatures were more wintery than spring-like.\u00a0 Had I been willing to get down on my knees to sniff its small flowerhead, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,1],"tags":[2685,257,808,1534,2684,1981,2686,590,477],"class_list":["post-3653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-uncategorized","tag-armeniacum","tag-deer-resistant-plants","tag-edging-plants","tag-fall-planted-bulbs","tag-grape-hyacinths","tag-muscari","tag-muscari-botryoides","tag-rock-garden-plants","tag-spring-bulbs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3653"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3655,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3653\/revisions\/3655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}