Food-Gardening Lessons From A Wartime Victory Garden

What Are These Little Blue and White Spring Flowers in My Garden?

“Could you please tell me the name of this flower? It’s a perennial and has spread some.” Question from Ray of Boliver, New York

Answer: You are the lucky owner of a population of very pretty bulbs called striped squill (Puschkinia scilloides). This early spring flowers naturally spread but are not invasive. The blue-striped blooms are very attractive to early bees and have a delicately sweet scent if you pick one and take a sniff. Once the bulbs flower, they will set seed by mid to late spring, then the foliage will dry and disappear until the following spring. 

I love this little flower and have it in my own garden planted beneath early daffodils. Striped squill pairs well with many other early bulbs, and is very no-care. Enjoy them!

Happy gardening,

Jessie Keith

Black Gold Horticulturist

About JESSIE KEITH

Plants are the lens Jessie views the world through because they’re all-sustaining. (“They feed, clothe, house and heal us. They produce the air we breathe and even make us smell pretty.”) She’s a garden writer and photographer with degrees in both horticulture and plant biology from Purdue and Michigan State Universities. Her degrees were bolstered by internships at Longwood Gardens and the American Horticultural Society. She has since worked for many horticultural institutions and companies and now manages communications for Sun Gro Horticulture, the parent company of Black Gold. Her joy is sharing all things green and lovely with her two daughters.

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