This is Triteleia uniflorum Wisley Blue, or at least it was when I bought it. This unassuming little perennial has been known by no less than five different names. Why ? Are the botanists trying to confuse us, or have they just got too much time on their hands ? Yes, it has also been known as Brodiaea, Ipheion, Milla and Tristagma. But I will continue to give it the name that was on the plant label.
I planted two clumps many years ago, one at the front of a sunny border, and the other on top of a dry stone wall in shade. The clump in the border has long since gone, but the clump on the dry stone wall is thriving, they obviously like the well-drained position.
Today we moved the clocks forward one hour to British Summer Time. It certainly feels like summer in the afternoons, but we are having a lot of fog in the mornings, which reminds me of the saying:
'As many mists in March,
As there are frosts in May.'
It's been a strange day in the garden today, hardly any birds around at all. Even the blue tits were conspicuous by their absence. They spent most of yesterday in and out of the nestbox, obviously doing the decorating, but today no sign of them. I decided to do a bit of investigating, and discovered a squirrel asleep near the top of the hawthorn tree, and more worryingly, a sparrowhawk in the neighbour's tree. But as dusk approached, the birds returned, including the blue tits, phew.
Glad to hear the birds are fine! It is odd that this sweet little flower has so many names! I hate it when plant names change - I always wonder why.
ReplyDeleteYes the birds are back to normal today. Think it was the sparrowhawk that spooked them yesterday.
DeleteNow that's strange - I posted a picture on a gardening forum of that very plant wondering what it was - someone had given it to me and I had no idea of the name - I was told it was Chinodoxia White Storm (or something like that) I admit it does look a little like it but I wasn't convinced.
ReplyDeleteHa ha, it's got five names already, and it nearly got another one.
DeleteI love the Wisley Blue and am looking forward to seeing mine...glad to hear the birds are back...our warm weather here in NY is now getting cold again...too bad for all the plants blooming too early. Just getting acquainted with your blog...lovely!
ReplyDeleteHi Donna, thanks for stopping by. The weather here is getting warmer but the forecast is for a cold spell at the weekend. Hope that wasn't our summer.
DeleteBeautiful flower. I also like how you name your time change--British Summer Time.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, summertime in Britain is usually anything but like summer. We have nice springs and autumns though.
DeleteWhat a lovely looking flower! I get really confused by all the names plants have. Then they have their families too. My vote would be for one word, easy to pronounce plant names!
ReplyDeleteI agree, and just to confuse things, they give them common names as well.
DeleteI thought it was Chinodoxa also known as Glory of the Snow, part of the same family I suspect. It is very pretty, a delicate colour.
ReplyDeleteWhenever the birds disappear from my garden I know the Sparrowhawk is around, thankfully they usually return within a day.
Hope you are enjoying the same glorious weather we have here :-)
It was part of the same family as chionodoxa, but I don't know if it still is, because they keep changing the family as well as the names.
DeleteWeather is glorious here too, but we've just been declared in a drought area.
Thanks for posting about these - I had some years ago, and always liked them. Must get more!
ReplyDelete(I do get confused about names, and I knew it as ipheion, so I met remember the change when I go shopping... definitely not a chionodoxa, though.)
The name was changed to Ipheion shortly after I bought it, but I still remember it as Triteleia, so named because the petals are in threes, which sounds logical to me.
Delete