BEAUTY FROM BULBS

      Several kinds of early-blooming, alien plants from Eurasia have the potential to spread across sunny, human-made habitats, including lawns, meadows and fields.  I have seen many patches of snow drops, winter aconites, scilla, glories-in-the-snow and grape hyacinths blooming in such built, open habitats in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania through the years.  And their lovely flowers add much cheer to us humans, from the middle of February into April, often right at home and just when we need that inspiration the most.  

     These plants are introduced to soil in flower beds as perennial bulbs that sprout leaves and bloom beautifully every early-spring.  But when these plants become acclimated to soil and weather conditions, they begin to march across lawns, pastures and fields, annually beautifying those habitats with their lovely blossoms.  Those wayward plants and their blooms also help make spring more wonderful and interesting to experience and enjoy.  

     Those small, simple flowering plants, scattered among grasses and other kinds of vegetation, appear wild.  And, indeed, they are on their own, but they annually cheer many a human soul, weary of winter, with their pretty blooms.     

     Snow drops bloom in mid-February in my area, and are well-named.  Each plant has a few grass-like leaves and a couple of small, white blossoms that resemble drops of snow at first.  But when those lovely flowers open fully, they appear to be tiny, white, fairy bells that quiver, and seem to tinkle, in the wind.

     The squat winter aconites each have several lean leaves that, together, circle a single yellow flower that faces the sky by mid to late February.  Aconites really spread and I have seen big portions of many lawns golden with their cheering blossoms.   

     Each scilla plant has two wide, but grass-like leaves and a few sky-blue flowers.  Patches of these lovely blossoms, nestled in short-grass lawns, and blooming in March, seem to reflect clear skies.  They are beautiful to behold.

     Each glory-in-the-snow has a few grass-like leaves and a couple of purple-blue flowers, with white centers, that face the sky.  Like scilla, glories are scattered in short-grass lawns and bloom in March.  I have seen some lawns with both these attractive, flowering plants in them.     

     Grape hyacinth is another plant that really spreads across lawns and fields.  This species has one or two clusters of rounded, purple blooms, each group on a stem that rises above each plant's clump of grass-like foliage.  Each flower has an opening in its bottom, where tiny insects enter to sip nectar, pollinating the blossom in the process.  

     These plants generally are done blooming before it's time to mow grass.  And their low foliage remains after mowing, where it makes sugary food for its bulbs to survive for another year.  

     Look for and enjoy these alien plants in eastern United States early in spring.  Some of their lovely flowers could be right at your doorstep.

     

         

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