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What is Scilla?

What is Scilla?

We have probably all marveled at the beautiful fields of blue that pop up around this time of year.  Customers ask me all the time in wonderment, “What is that?!”

Scilla is a member of the lily family.  Most varieties bloom in spring whereas a few are fall bloomers.  It is coveted for it naturalizing tendencies.  So year after year they will slowly multiply to form that lovely blanket of blue.  I always warn that they aren’t for the faint of heart.  These are a true gardeners plant.  As seen below, if they love their home they can take over.

 

A mass of ScillaThey like full sun locations with well drained soil.  Plant them en masse for the best show.  you can even pair them with a Tete e Tete daffodil, which is a lovely dwarf variety in a creamy yellow.  Once they are done blooming, they are similar to other bulbs and do best if you let the leaves wilt.  Other plants like ferns and hosta can be used to help mask the withering leaves as they come up as the scilla is nearing the end of its season.

See how tiny the Scilla bulbs are?Once the Scilla have put on their show they disappear completely, back into dormancy for their next display the following year.  If you have never noticed this unique plant, take the time to look around…you won’t forget it once you see it.

Boxwood Trivia

Boxwood are one of the most versatile and elegant of evergreen shrubs.  They have very shallow roots, can tolerate most conditions and be used in both formal and informal settings.  It are theses characteristics that make them so desirable today.

Their popularity is not new.  Although grains for a species was found in England as far back as 7,000 B.C., they were destroyed during a Glacial epoch.  They resurfaced around 4,000 B.C. in ancient Egyptian tombs.  Their popularity surged at the height of the Roman Empire and throughout the Dark Ages, used as hedges and topiaries in Royal gardens.

One of the Boxwood’s most delightful and interesting facts is that it has historically been used to make boxes, chess pieces, printing using woodblocks, and musical instruments and parts, particularly form the strings and woodwind class and is still used for many of these purposes today.

It is a plant that seems almost too good to be true!  Well almost.  As of late our dear friend has had some issues, that many of you might have experienced.  Several years ago we had an extremely cold Chicago winter with unusually light snow cover…and plants with shallow roots really rely on their winter blankets.  As spring sprung, we noticed the loss of a lot of plant species…especially boxwood, yews, junipers and roses.

Boxwoods suffered another hit.  Boxwood blight.  It is a fungal disease that really has no treatment.  The only course of action is to remove them from the nursery or landscape.

These plants of course need to be replaced, and replace them we are.  Why is having to replace them so important to our tale?  Well because Boxwoods are extremely slow growing, and as the demand increases due not only to popularity but a need to replace them, growers just cannot keep up.  It is a difficult concept to explain to a property owner, but our current reality.

There are alternatives.  They are not boxwoods, but they are options…”Green Mound’ Alpine Current, ‘Karen’s’ Azalea, Deutzia, and our owner’s favorite… Barberry.  Peruse some of these favorites on our nursery’s website.

Many people say everything happens for a reason.  Maybe this did.  I like to think utilizing a different palette challenges our creativity and encourages diversifying our monoculture.