Which Muscari is your favorite?

Hi, everyone--

I am trying to add 'layers' of color and interest to my daffodil garden and I am wondering which Muscari would be the best variety to add to daffs that bloom early and mid-season?

I think I need an early blooming muscari to get the bloom sequence to work---

--does anyone have experience with Muscari "Christmas Pearl"? That is an early bloomer according to Van Engelen and B & B.

I wonder if 'Blue Spike' would work, too?

Does anyone have other ideas for using muscari for the spring garden?

And to plant with late season daffs and early(ish) tulips--what muscari would you recommend for those?

Any advice or pics on using muscari in the spring garden would be appreciated! Thanks. t.

FYI Here's the muscari link for Van Engelen's http://www.vanengelen.com/catview.cgi?_fn=Product&_category=Muscari

I don't know a think about muscari but your garden is beautiful! It is so lush and healthy looking and the blue and yellow flowers are wonderful.
Betty

M. latifolium. Something fun about only one or two leaves.

M. latifolium sounds like one I have to try. I see Paghat on her site wrote an interesting essay about that particular muscari

http://www.paghat.com/muscarilatifolium.html

--sounds a bit late for mid-season narcissus around here, but it will be perfect for our 'Purple Prince' tulips and 'Princes Irenes', I think.

T. 'Purple Prince' bloomed earlier than M. latifolium here.

With Narc. 'Bellsong' and T. 'Flowerdale.'
K

Thanks, JamesCO, for the tip. I don't have Flowerdale or Bellsong but I will research their bloomtimes...

Do you by chance grow Muscari 'Christmas Pearl'? I wonder which narcissus/tulips that one blooms with. VanEngelen says early mid season daffs....

I second Kenton's recommendation of M.latifolium- I loved it this spring! That navy blue is very nice, and the later blooming time worked well with my late daffs (like tazettas and jonquillas). I also tried M.azureum for the first time last fall; a lovely, bright, sky blue, and earlier than the rest. They're small and should be planted in quantity, but they bloomed with some of my earlier daffs.

Christmas pearl is on my list for this fall too, and I'll not rest till I've got 'Valerie Finnis'- that color looks wonderful in the pics! M. botroides(sp?)album is very nice too. It does'nt increase like others, but makes a lovely companion to almost anything, particularly pansies and primula.

You bullies. I have thus far actually managed to not order any more scilloids this fall. (other than Chionodoxa...) but threads like this are a danger, a real problem in the proper and controlled world...
I want Valerie Finnis!

I forgot to add that latifolium lasts a long time- so it combines with several seasons of spring bulbs. 'Flowerdale' is a greigii, so M. latifolium ought to combine with any cultivar/hybrid greigii tulip.
K

It gets worse- B&B are coming to Denver at the end of this month...
And I want M. azureum, after Neal described it so nicely.

Early latifolium, March 24.

I want to try 'Christmas Pearle.'

Early May. Future latifolium progeny...

Here's a pic of M.azureum; they were mixed with M.latifolium (were'nt supposed to be), but you can see how M.latifolium is just budding at the time.

IMHO, Blue Muscari goes nicely with White Daffs and White Muscari enhances the beauty of Orange & Yellow Daffs.

What do you think?

Yes, I agree, the combo sounds great, but the white muscari I had were really small and I could barely see them in the garden. Were yours like that?

I like those blue muscari with your purple tulips, though, too.

Seems like so many white forms are invigorous.

I loved Blue Spike. I had him spring of 2005. He didn't return for me. I might order some this year, but just put in a big order for tulips so I had to cut something.

BTW That gorgeous photo VE has of the muscari mix was not how they came up for me last spring. They came up in rounds, one variety at a time. I know, y'all already knew thay but I expected it to look in the garden like it did in the photo. You'd think I would have learned by now with rose catalogues >grins<
cynthia

t, how long have you had the white muscari in the garden? If I recall correctly, mine were somewhat insignificant the first year, but produced more spikes as time went on and were a showier foil for the brighter colors around them, kind of like babies breath in an arrangement. While they did'nt increase like other forms, they proved to return reliably.

Cynthia, thanks for the heads up on that mix- I was nearly seduced by the pic too. I love all those shades of blue blended together.

Have any of you tried 'Valerie Finnis'? I'd love to see a real pic of them in the garden. They look so lovely in the catalogs, but does'nt everything? LOL Thus far, I've been too cheap to get any.

I agree about latifolium and azureum - I enjoyed those very much this year. I'm not keen on some of the fussier forms with white eyes etc -- the plain ones are pretty enough for me and look fabulous with minature narcissi. Valerie Finnis is a very fine form - I don't have it but would like it.

OK I went and added two things to my VE order including Blue Spike muscari.

The photo of that item had a lovely white, but not muscari: M. botryiodes album

It looked lovely. of course they were blooming at the same time...like they always do in the photos

cynthia

Yes, just went over my VanEngelen's order and added a few things, too. (I forgot to order my chiondoxa, more muscari, and the white anemones.)

I wonder, too, if the catalog reader can ever depend on the pictures for bulb bloom combinations... I noticed that VanEngelens has been mentioning possible combos in their text this year which I find helpful (at least I'm a sucker for it this year!).

I'm going to keep some good notes though for next spring and let them know (and everybody on DG) if they are way off on the "cross marketing" efforts!! I'm really trying to carefully pair the 'little blue bulbs' with the right daffs and tulips and if they have intentionally misled me I will NOT be happy!

Gem-- I planted about 50 white muscari from Van Engelen two years ago and none came up the second spring. But that's OK. They were too tiny in scale for our garden--by the time most of the muscari bloom my daff foliage has overtaken any of the tiny petite flowers. ---It's the 'ugly phase' of our spring garden (when I try to go on vacation). That's how I deal with the second 'stage' of the spring garden!


Happy gardening this weekend. It looks like it will be lovely.

Good point t, the white ones are probably a better choice for alpine or rock gardens. Strange that they did'nt return for you though.

Timing bloom can really make me want to pull my hair out sometimes, and I'm curious how it will play out next spring. Some of the Darwin Hybrid tulips I planted last year went in the ground in December, and bloomed 2 weeks later that the others, but next spring should all bloom together. I've also noticed daffs often bloom later the first spring after planting, so it's the 2nd year before I know what to really expect. For the late season garden I combined a hosta that has showy fall blooms with majic lilies that bloom in late summer. Last year they bloomed together, which I had not intended, but this year the majic lilies bloomed first, then the hostas. I guess no matter how much planning we do, Mother nature will still have her say so.

Well, next spring I plan to be a daring gardener and dig up all of my mis-planted bulbs while they are 'in the green' and replant them where they will bloom 'in concert' the way I thought/planned/hoped they would in the first place! I will let you know how that works out.

I never fail to do that each year, I have replanted plants up to five times before I let them be. Or they died...
Usually, bulbs drop their flowers if moved beforehand. Unless you take up a big clod of soil- they won't know they ever got moved. I try (just try) to move things right as the foliage is dying down.

Mixtures are anathema to me, as they either are too lopsided or I die trying to find out what one particular cvr is in the mix!
K