Hyacinthoides non-scripta

The Scilla nutans, also known as Hyacinthoides non-scripta, is none other than the wild hyacinth that grows in large colonies in our cool undergrowth. It is recognized in spring, when its bright blue-mauve flowering emerges from beautiful clumps of glossy green ribbon-like leaves. In the garden, it is a perfectly hardy plant, low-maintenance and full of charm. Its bulbs multiply on their own and remain in place, forming over time large carpets that beautify year after year.

The Hyacinthoides non-scripta is a herbaceous perennial with a bulb the size of a hazelnut. It belongs to the family of Hyacinthaceae or Liliaceae depending on the classifications. It is a species native to the Atlantic regions of Europe, almost absent elsewhere. Its distribution range extends from the north of the Iberian Peninsula to Belgium, passing through the British Isles. In France, it is spontaneous in the west, north of a Bordeaux-Dijon-Reims line. Today threatened by the progressive destruction of its habitat and hybridization with other species, this wood hyacinth is protected in most of Western Europe. It is a plant that prefers bright semi-shade and clear undergrowth, with deep, humus-rich, sandy-loamy soils, slightly acidic.

The Scilla nutans develops in spring a tuft of 3 to 6 basal leaves, erect then trailing, narrow, linear, about 20 cm (8in) long and 7 to 16 mm (0 to 1in) wide. From the center of the tuft emerges in April-May a floral stem 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16in) tall. It bears at its tip a recurved, semi-pendant raceme or spike, which has 5 to 12 flowers all implanted on the same side. Each pendant flower, blue-mauve in colour, 1.4 to 1.8 cm (1in) long, has the shape of a tube that opens up into 6 curled lobes. This flowering is slightly fragrant. The foliage dries up in June, while the fruit-laden floral scape persists until August.

The wood hyacinth is planted in mass in an herbaceous border, along a path or under lightly foliaged trees. It will be superb, in all simplicity, associated with the wild daffodil (Narcissus pseudo-narcissus) that likes the same environments. Other pretty unpretentious plants like the wood anemone, the winter aconite, the wild garlic or the white asphodel (Asphodelus albus) will accompany it in the morning sun or in semi-shade, at the edge of a shrub border.