This littler bugger has taken over one of our flower beds
[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/moleybbq/5701190880/][img]https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2135/5701190880_28a4675a4c.jpg[/img][/url]
[url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/moleybbq/5701190880/]2011-05-08-16-53-40-945[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/people/moleybbq/]MoleyBBQ[/url], on Flickr[/img]
Anyone know what it is?
I believe that's what is known by the common names of Spanish squill and Spanish bluebells. There are actually many common names for this plant. My yard is infested with the blue ones, which are Hyacinthoides hispanica, and since it doesn't carry a variety name, is probably the "type species", sometimes expressed as the "holotype".
Your pink flowered variety is called 'Rosea', and the white flowered variety is called 'Alba', but the genus and species is Hyacinthoides hispanica. It is known by a few other binomial names, such as Scilla hispanica, but as near as I've been able to determine, the correct genus and species is Hyacinthoides hispanica.
Your pink flowered variety is called 'Rosea', and the white flowered variety is called 'Alba', but the genus and species is Hyacinthoides hispanica. It is known by a few other binomial names, such as Scilla hispanica, but as near as I've been able to determine, the correct genus and species is Hyacinthoides hispanica.
Personally, this is a plant I would not compost, but others may disagree with my feelings about it. What I can tell you is that I planted about 12 bulbs, that a neighbor gave me, along my back fence. That was about 10 or 15 years ago. It is now everywhere.
This stuff behaves in a very "un-bulblike" manner. It not only flowers the first season it grows from a seed, but those very young bulbs also produce bulblets, and the flowers produce more seed. It spreads very rapidly. One way to partly control it, and the method I use, is to cut off the flower stalks as soon as the flowers fade. Don't give them a chance to set seed. Decide where you want the plant, I.e. create boundary lines, and then pull or dig up every last one of these plants that you see growing outside those designated boundaries. Depending on how heavy your infestation is, control might be able to be accomplished this year, or it might take a few years to get the plants confined to where you want them.
I like this plant because it is one of the few that will grow and bloom in the very heavy shade on the north side of my house. I also allow it to grow around one of my birdbaths. I have another patch along the back fence, where I planted the original bulbs. Every one of these plants that I see that is outside those designated areas gets yanked or dug up. I show this plant no mercy, not one little bit!
This stuff behaves in a very "un-bulblike" manner. It not only flowers the first season it grows from a seed, but those very young bulbs also produce bulblets, and the flowers produce more seed. It spreads very rapidly. One way to partly control it, and the method I use, is to cut off the flower stalks as soon as the flowers fade. Don't give them a chance to set seed. Decide where you want the plant, I.e. create boundary lines, and then pull or dig up every last one of these plants that you see growing outside those designated boundaries. Depending on how heavy your infestation is, control might be able to be accomplished this year, or it might take a few years to get the plants confined to where you want them.
I like this plant because it is one of the few that will grow and bloom in the very heavy shade on the north side of my house. I also allow it to grow around one of my birdbaths. I have another patch along the back fence, where I planted the original bulbs. Every one of these plants that I see that is outside those designated areas gets yanked or dug up. I show this plant no mercy, not one little bit!