A Year in Flowers, Week 13: The Balcony Garden

Muscari armeniacum (Grape Hyacinths)

The colour, flower structure, and growth habit of Muscari armeniacum have totally captivated me.

 
 

“Muscari armeniacum, commonly called grape hyacinth, is an early spring-blooming bulbous perennial that is native to southeastern Europe (including Armenia). It features conical racemes of slightly fragrant, tightly packed, deep violet blue, urn-shaped flowers atop scapes rising to 8” tall in early spring. Each bulb produces 1-3 scapes with 20-40 flowers per scape. Each flower has a thin white line around the rim. Dense inflorescence purportedly resembles an elongated, upside-down bunch of grapes, hence the common name.”

Information source: Missouri Botanical Garden

 
 

A Year in Flowers: The First Days of Spring

Inspired by the arrival of spring and this @floretflower Instagram post, I am going to begin a new project: documenting the gardening year in flowers. Even though I’ve been regularly posting botanical images for the past several years, I’ve not been systematic, disciplined or fully intentional about my creative practice and there have been gaps of weeks, if not a month or more between entries. Although I would like to publish daily, because of all my other commitments and activities, I will set the bar lower and aim to post weekly, although each entry may contain more than one image and include more than one day.

Blooming now in neighbourhood gardens:

Muscari armeniacum (Grape Hyacinths)

Crocus vernus (Spring Crocus)

Prunus subhirtella ‘Whitcomb’ (Whitcomb Cherry)