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ID jit
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Posts: 339
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 10:00 am
Location: SE New England: zone twilight or 5b... hard for me to tell some days.

Can anyone name these volunteers?

Have a bunch of these in one garden, and they seem to be executing a take over plot or a coup or something.

Anyone know what they are?

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Thanks Much

john gault
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Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 4:53 pm
Location: Atlantic Beach, Fl. (USDA Hardiness Zone 9a)

I have very similar looking volunteers that started popping up in my yard, but the flower looks completely different. Mine are Pink Rain Lily, so maybe it's in the same family??? I don't know https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zephyranthes_rosea

Here are some pics from my yard, you can see how much the foliage looks the same, but the flower is way different.


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applestar
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Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Ah ha! The purple ones are Grape Hyacinth. I love them because they are practically unkillable. They are absolutely great in those sunny, dry areas. But they can also become a nuisance and grow quite big in rich soil that gets a little shade. You already noted how they can naturalize (spread like wildfire).

They produce seeds in papery capsules after the the flower are done and will grow from those seeds if scattered around. Small dug up bulbs will turn up elsewhere and will do their best to grow no matter where they end up.

There are other color flower cultivars including white, pink and white edged sky blue. Larger flowered vs. smaller. But the small purple ones are most common.

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ID jit
Green Thumb
Posts: 339
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 10:00 am
Location: SE New England: zone twilight or 5b... hard for me to tell some days.

Grape Hyacinth.... thanks.

The papery capsules sound familiar, and I have a boat load of volunteers.

Pretty sure they are going to end up in the stone ring under the tree. (Better option than my first choice of 5 gallons of diesel fuel, few of old pallets, a stray tire or two and a road flare,)



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