Muscari armeniacum 'Saffier', any opinions?

Hi, bulbsters,

After going thru 'bulb withdrawal' due to bad experiences last year with weather, critters, rot, and so on, I've finally succumbed (after much lurking on this forum) to the 'Brent & Becky' and 'Van Engelen' 'virus' and ordered a bunch of daffs and tulips to plant this week.

So now I want to plant some Muscari bordering them, too. In the past I have planted different varieties of 'muscari', only to have them open too late or too early for their companion daffs/tulips, so I thought I would try m. 'Saffier' which is said to have a long bloom time, but is a 'peculiar looking' flower (according to one website).

So, I'm looking for any comments from you on m. 'Saffier' or muscari, in general...? Any thoughts?

(There are no photos or comments on 'Saffier' in Plant files, which surprises me!)

Thanks. t.

I bought 100 for 16.50 Muscari 'Saffier' from Van Engelen last year and liked them so much that I ordered another 100 for this year for another spot. I can't find a great picture, but these are some of them on May 14th last year. I bought them to be "socks" around tulips and narcissus, so they would show up from our second floor window which is a favorite viewing spot for the east gardens in our yard. They are larger and darker than regular armeniacum, so they were perfect. I hope they reappear this year and thrive. The bulbs I got were very large. Patti

T, I've no comment to make but I wanted to say I am considering getting the common one as I believe it grows in my area. about how close together do you plant them, Patti?

I did plant the 'Saffier' close together (4 to 6 inches), but I try to be very random in planting them, thinking I can play mother nature. Ha, not so good at it, ever. I think I will plant the next batch of these a bit more scattered as they are big. The regular armeniacum are good at spreading so I would plant them according to your patience. If you need instant gratification I would plant them 3" to 4" apart or less. But the toss to scatter method is best, though I seem to loose bulbs that way. I think I should toss handfuls of gravel and then plant the bulbs, then pick up the rocks and move on. Never have done that though. My favorite is perhaps the two toned one which I planted a couple of years ago, Muscari latifolium and I adore the pale blue one Valerie Finnis which you can sort of see at the top of the picture taken on May 5th. I hope they spread quickly. Next year there will be a small army along the other side of the stream if I can get them on sale in Nov. Armies are expensive. I do have a nice patch of the late blooming Muscari comosum under the cedar which I am adding more to. Love muscari. Patti

Have you tried the Magical Muscari Collection from John Scheeper's? I just planted mine today. 100 bulbs total. 25 each of Muscari armeniacum, Muscari botryoides album, Muscari latifolium and Muscari Valerie Finnis. I noticed that Muscari latifolium is sold out now on their site, I'd like to get more of those this year.
Has anyone ever planted Muscari macrocarpum Golden Fragrance? They are yellow with purple tops. Curious how they do.

thanks, all.

Great photos! So lovely! I can only wish for such a display! I hope you report here on their return next spring, bb.

So, for my meagre daffodil garden this year, I'll definitely order the 'Saffier' from Van Engelens. Van Engelens' prices seem to be pretty good right now compared to others (they must have made their deals in Holland when the exchange rate was very favorable).

As for the 'river of muscari' effects, I believe at the end of the season left over muscari can be had for as little as 3 cents a bulb (for a lot of a 1000). At least that was the offer made to me last year when I brought up a 'river of muscari' with a bulb broker... (-: I was tempted, but my varmint invasion made me hesitate on taking him up on it.

In the past I have ordered the muscari collection from Scheepers/Van Engelens, too. A nice way to try some of them out.

I did look up Todd Boland's article about muscari and found some good photos on that, too. He is always a good source for info, too!

Voss, so good to hear from you! I've been so out of touch these days I miss everyone! t.

I tried a few a couple of years ago of the 'Golden Fragrance' Not much to look at, kind of washed out and sickly looking IMHO and they did not return last year. But I did put a note in my journal that they might not be winter hardy in zone 6/7 from something I read somewhere. They were pricey. We now have 3 squirrels hanging around. Terrified of what they might do this winter.

I just got in 4 more boxes of bulbs which I add to the growing heap in the guest room But before planting them I have other chores to do. First we have to finish moving all the tender container plants into the GH ( 1 more day needed),then we need to finish the fall planting of shrubs and perennials and clean up the beds ( we have started) and then we can begin planting a few thousand bulbs. Always behind, though we usually plant in Nov.and again in Dec when we get some sale bulbs.

I agree about Todd Boland. He writes the best articles on all sorts of bulbs. Patti

Thanks, Patti. I had thought I remembered hearing a less than stellar review on Golden Fragrance. There are plenty of others that do well and are inexpensive to boot. Speaking of squirrels, they've been investigating every hole I make. Pain in the neck. There's not much I can do to deter them though because I have two massive Black Walnut trees in my yard so every squirrel in this neck of the woods has my address. I have planted and replanted one particular Allium bulb three times. It's the size of a peeled potato so it's not hard to miss when they pull it out the hole and leave it nearby!

I cut and lay pieces plastic fencing over the bulbs and then cover with soil. Squirrels can't dig through the fencing but the bulbs can grow through it. Its really cheap off the role at the hardware store. The frost does heave it up after a few years but I just cut the exposed edges off with my snips when this happens.

are you talking about something like this?
http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1904134&cp=1255142.1260341&parentPage=family

I wonder which would be better, the plastic fence or chicken wire. I'm only planting 600-700 bulbs but there is NO WAY those stupid squirrels are going to wreak havoc with this bed. I officially declare war on those varmints!

Mine was way cheaper. It isn't heavy duty. I can't find it online. Maybe it is a seasonal item? I used the plastic cuz I thought it would have a longer life underground than chicken wire but chicken wire would work too.

Thanks for the tip, Dahlianut. I've heard of planting Tulips in wire baskets but it always seemed like too much hassle. I tend to mix bulbs into my perennial beds and tuck them in under trees and other plants that leaf out later so I'm not sure how well the plastic would work for me. If I had a bed with 600-700 bulbs I would definitely use it though!

I just cut pieces and lay them over my patches. I've done it in containers too. Its not alot of hassle. I plant perennials right over the whole patch the next season and its done.

DyanesGarden...I bought the armeniacum, botryoides album, latifolium and Valerie Finnis assortment last year.

Latifolium is big. I wish I had planted it on the edge of the lawn rather than out in the middle. It would make a good background for other things. The album was late but then maybe not getting around to planting it until late Nov was the reason. It is also on the small side. Valerie Finnis is as pretty as the pictures. Armeniacum is the standard of course. Have patches of it going back to who knows when (house is from the 1880s). The Scheepers assortment is nice. Fun to compare the different cultivars.

This year all I bought were 100 Christmas Pearl to plant with early species and other minature daffies.

I loved the m. 'Christmas Pearl' we planted last year. It really did come up with some of our early bulbs.

And I've used the plastic netting over our bulb plots too with limited success. Will do it again in some of the beds.

I'll try anything to keep the critters away!

Christmas Pearl looks like the standard Armeniacum but it comes up earlier? I need to get a little better with timing of bulbs. I'm trying to make combos. I love how Brent & Becky's has suggestions for bulbs that bloom at the same time. I planted botryoides album with Calgary Tulips and Narcissus Thalia for an early white garden but I'm not sure if they'll all bloom together.

David_Paul, I love the look of a lawn full of early blooming bulbs. I have 3 sections of lawn on my property. I was thinking of doing that with one of them. Where does everyone look for late season bulb sales?

DyanesGarden...Bleek, a member of this forum, had a great sale last year. His profile says he a representative for eFlowerGarden and
Touch of Nature, Inc. (the latter is in the Garden Watchdog top 30). Touch of Nature right now is offering 10% off on a person's first order from them.

Last year I believe Bleek listed his sale in Dave's classified. I read about it in a forum.

Emailed Van Engelen this morning about a hardiness issue and asked about its sales. Company rep said they will know after they do their inventory. Sale will be the first or second week in November (last year I believe it started at the end of the second week..around the 13th).

Some companies have sales right now. Lot's "sales" out there that aren't really sales as you probably know. I use Van Engelen as a benchmark to compare prices. Many other vendors are higher than Van Engelen even when they have sales. Can't believe what some charge. I've been in retail and I was never able to charge 50% to 200% more than the competition (didn't even try). But there are garden companies which do it and apparently are sucessful. Maybe the quality is higher. But the bulbs I've received from lower prices companies (Bleek and Van Engelen for instance) have been excellent.

Best thing to do for sales is watch this forum and the Northeast Gardening forum.

Ditto to DP. Although I'm buying from Canadian suppliers, same here: alot of sales aren't sales. Best to touch base with folks in your zone and also look for local deals. Alot of our local garden centres has really good sales to get rid of their stock which is handy/dandy cuz there's no shipping.

I ordered Daffodils and Allium from a co-op with bleek, just planted this fall. The bulbs were very nice for the price. Also got some Bearded Iris from bleek. Too soon to give a review but everything looked great going in!

Tabasco,
I have Muscari armenicacum 'Saffier' and the flowers are larger than some muscari and definitely unusual. They don't open as little bells, they just stay closed --sort of bulbous . Here's a photo from early April in my zone 9 garden. Be sure to enlarge it to see the florets.

Chris

Interesting looking muscari, chris. I don't think I've seen those saffier growing anywhere. I guess I didn't expect the little bells to stay quite that closed!

Yes, the bulb sales are going to be in full force soon. So exciting!