Muscari armeniacum Touch of Snow

Muscari armeniacum 'Touch of Snow' is a delightful little hybrid that offers small conical spikes of flowers with a blue gradient, darker towards the bottom and almost white at the top. The flowers first open from green buds and the tips of the floral spikes appear white before darkening to become medium blue. This creates a distinctive and eye-catching bicolour effect. The nectar-rich and slightly fragrant flowering occurs in March. This small bulbous plant rests in the summer, indifferent to heat.

Derived from Muscari armeniacum, 'Touch of Snow' is a hybrid belonging to the asparagaceae family. This small bulb produces a basal rosette of very narrow, gutter-shaped, dark green leaves. Each rosette emits 3 to 5 floral stems on a mature and well-developed bulb. The 15 cm tall floral stems bear 20 to 40 small urn-shaped flowers. The inflorescence is a cluster of flowers 2 to 6 cm long and about 1.5 cm wide, exhaling a heavy, heady fragrance. The urn-shaped flowers are small, measuring only 5 to 6 mm in length. They are tightly packed together, forming a narrow and dense cone. The small blue urns are bordered in white. This bulb naturalises slowly but surely in light soil, without ever becoming invasive.

Muscari is a small, undemanding plant that should be valued for of its delightful range of soft or vibrant colours. 'Touch of Snow' is situated between the two with its range of intense and soft blue. Its great resistance to cold, drought, and shade allows it to be used in many situations: in woodland, at the base of trees, as a border to highlight a pathway, in a rockery with heathers for example, or in Japanese-style gardens. It also grows very well in pots, on a windowsill or balcony. It is so accommodating that it will forgive a lack of watering and thrive in neglected or weekend gardens. Its flowers are very beautiful alongside the trumpets of daffodils, forget-me-nots, the fragrant clusters of early blue hyacinths (Blue Pearl, Delft Blue), or the pink and white cups of triumph tulips. You can also plant muscaris in clusters in a lawn. It multiplies rapidly in good, rich, and well-draining soil.