The English call Muscari grape hyacinth, because the inflorescences resemble bunches of grapes. BUT among the Slavic peoples, it is murine because of the miniature size of the flowers.

And until recently, this funny flower belonged to the hyacinth family. (Hiacinthaceae). Now it is classified as a representative of asparagus (Asparagaceae).

To date, many varieties of beautiful garden plants have been bred. But this did not affect the love of gardeners for this funny flower.

And there is a reason to love Muscari. Mouse hyacinth blooms for a short time, but one of the first. It is undemanding to the conditions — no special care. Muscari is winter-hardy and all that is required of the gardener is to once plant a flower in the ground.

The reproduction rate of mouse hyacinth is a record for bulbous plants. There have been cases of the formation of up to 30 «children» in one season. This means that in two or three seasons you can get a charming flowering rug in the garden or a thick border along the path.

A little secret lies in the method of planting muscari in the ground: adult bulbs are placed at a distance of 5-6 cm from each other. Do this in the fall in late September — early October.

Muscari can also be planted in the spring. For this, the bulbs are pre-sprouted (“kicked out”).

The most beautiful rugs are obtained from bright blue flowers. This is the most common Muscari color. Although there are flowers of blue, white, pink and even yellow.

Muscari Armenian (Muscari armeniacum)

• Growth area: Balkans, Turkey, Transcaucasia.
• Flowering period: beginning of May.
• Color spectrum: intense blue flowers with white or light blue recurved teeth.
• plant height: peduncle 25-30 cm
• Growing conditions: tolerates frost down to -30, photophilous, drought-resistant.
• Peculiarities: blooms for 20-25 days, the leaves are long, reach the peduncle, therefore it is more decorative in separate curtains. Variety «Blue Spike» forms up to 175 blue flowers per pedicel.

Muscari broadleaf (Muscari latofolium)

• Growth area: western and southern regions of Turkey.
• Flowering period: May
• Color spectrum: lower two-thirds dark purple, upper third noticeably lighter
• plant height: 20-25 cm
• Growing conditions: sunny areas and partial shade, moderate watering during the flowering period, fertile soils.
• Peculiarities: up to hundreds of flowers per inflorescence, wide leaves shorter than peduncles, good for forming a continuous flowering rug, blooms up to 30 days.

Muscari grapevine (Muscari botryoides)

• Growth area: highlands of Europe (from the Alps to the Carpathians)
• Flowering period: from the beginning of May
• Color spectrum: blue, white, pink
• plant height: 15 cm.
• Growing conditions: sunny places, shading is possible, fertile, loose soil without stagnant water.
• Peculiarities: up to 35 flowers are formed on the peduncle, flowering lasts 15-20 days, an excellent option for borders.

If we talk about color characteristics, then the following varieties of Muscari should be distinguished.

Blue flowers: Fantasy Creation (terry), Sapphire, Superstar, Oceanus Magia, Aes Duck, Blue Spike, Pauline.

purple inflorescences at Christristmas Perl, Night Eyes, Alida, Bling Bling.

Blue flowers: Blue Magic, Peppermint, Azerum, Aqua Magic.

White Muscari is represented by varieties: Muscari Botryoides Album, Magicae album, White Magic, Esther, Venus, Siberian Tiger.

Pink inflorescences in varieties: Pink Sunrise, Carneum.

COMPATIBILITY IN COLOR AND FORM

Muscari is propagated vegetatively by dividing the bulbs. As mentioned earlier, the number of «kids» per season is a record among other bulbous plants. It is necessary to dig up the bulbs when the plant has faded and the leaves are at the stage of wilting. Then you can still see the places where muscari grow. Later, small bulbs will become difficult to search in the ground.

The dug out bulbs need ripening. They are covered in a separate container with wet sand, placed in a dark place and the leaves are allowed to dry completely. When the process is completed, the bulbs are dried and left in a dry place until autumn.

In autumn, the bulbs are planted in the ground to a depth of 6-7 cm.

Muscari can grow in one place for a very long time. But the flowers will shrink over time, the flower stalks will deform. Therefore, in order to maintain an aesthetic appearance every 5 years, overgrown curtains are required to be planted in order to improve the population.

Transplantation can be done in the spring at any stage of Muscari growth. Jackets can be saved and transplanted in «families». Then the planting density will be maintained. And you can separate the daughter plants and significantly expand the habitat of the mouse hyacinth.