12 Mar 2007

Flower Fest - M for Muscari Armeniacum

I went on a hike yesterday and found these growing wild on the hillside. The tiny plant looked familiar to me; I remembered seeing it in my field guide but did not know the name. I came home, looked it up and it turned out to be Muscari Armeniacum commonly called Grape Hyacinth. Just in time to make it to M at Flower Fest!




Muscari Armeniacum is one of the early spring flowers from the Hyacinthcea family. The green spikes shoot up from the ground and produce clusters of bright blue flowers which look like bells. The pretty flowers have a lovely fragrance and I know they attract bees because I saw some buzzing around the flowers.




I also just learnt that the Keukenhof Garden in Holland has long winding paths planted with these flowers, which is known as the Blue River. Every year, this is one of the most photographed scenes in this park.

This is my second entry for the letter M at
Flower Fest - The A - Z of Flowers






Tags: Flower Fest

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Indeed - we have many pictures of the blue river at Keukenhof ...

Anonymous said...

I absolutely enjoyed seeing the pictures. I would love to visit the place sometime.

Anonymous said...

Flowers already?! You are so lucky, Shilpa!! This muscari is just too cute and more like grapes than the cultivated grape hyacinth that I grew from bulbs.

Anonymous said...

Spring has sprung in my neck of the woods. Lots of wildflowers popping up everywhere, Yay!

Anonymous said...

It is always a joy to come across a wildflower and marvel at the immense beauty in nature! The morning beauty is also beautiful. I came across a red one once...bright red!

Anonymous said...

Hi Anita,
I, for one, can never get enough of nature. I love hiking and being outdoors, and when it is made even more interesting with wildflowers and birds, it is like icing on the cake. Thanks for stopping by. I love your blog and enjoy reading your well written posts!