Flower Identification assistance required.

April 5, 2009 8:43 AM

What is this plant/flower 1 / 2 / 3?

I'm a renter (Birmingham, UK) and have had already had one summer in my current flat but these flowers didn't make an appearance last year (or at least I don't remember them if they did). This spring there are clumps all over the place. This suggests a biennial (or my pending senility) to me.

The only flower we had in such abundance last year was crocosmia but the ones we have flower much later in the year and grow taller leaves that stand up more (the leaves are already coming back).

I know I could just wait and see but I would like to know what to expect.

posted by srboisvert to home & garden (10 comments total)

Lily-of-the-valley?
posted by Wilder at 8:47 AM on April 5

Nah, leaves are much thinner than Muguet, will keep looking through GardenWeb.
posted by Wilder at 8:50 AM on April 5

next best guess is the grape hyacinth Muscari but it's a bit late. Mine are in full bloom on the south coast.
posted by Wilder at 8:53 AM on April 5

I was going to guess grape hyacinth too. Mine haven't come up yet, in the NYC area.
posted by bink at 8:57 AM on April 5

Looks like wood hyacinth. My garden is full of them, and they come back year after year. Fortunately they're pretty: bells in white, blue, or pinky-purple.
posted by ottereroticist at 9:07 AM on April 5

I actually have Muscari that we planted last year right next to a clump of them . The leaves are much thinner and the Muscari are already blooming (my garden is a bit slow because it doesn't get a full day of sunlight yet). I'm no garden expert so I could be wrong but I don't think these are the same type of plant.
posted by srboisvert at 9:09 AM on April 5

I think you nailed it O.E. Looks like other people have been baffled by them as well. I'm a bit puzzled that they weren't in our garden last summer though.
posted by srboisvert at 9:22 AM on April 5

Depending on when you moved in, you might have missed them. Mine bloom around April -- this year, more likely in May.
posted by ottereroticist at 9:25 AM on April 5

I was here for the whole year last year so I couldn't have missed them. I may have forgotten them though. We'll see when they bloom whether I have a "d'oh! now I remember " moment.
posted by srboisvert at 10:33 AM on April 5

Woodland hyacinth it is with a secondary diagnosis of memory failure. They can be seen at the back of this picture, taken last year by the shed.

I blame the overabundance of our garden. It's just too much for a Canadian non-gardener to process.
posted by srboisvert at 9:03 AM on April 12