Grape Hyacinth or Muscari
Muscari, Leopoldia, and Pseudomuscari species (LILIACEAE)
Planting and Growing Grape Hyacinth
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow grape hyacinth or muscari in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of grape hyacinth or muscari
- Season of bloom and planting time for grape hyacinth or muscari
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for grape hyacinth or muscari
- When, how deep, and where to plant grape hyacinth or muscari
- How to plant grape hyacinth or muscari
- Watering, fertilizing, care and pests or diseases of grape hyacinth or muscari
- Landscape and indoor uses of grape hyacinth or muscari
- Comments about grape hyacinth or muscari and its features
Growing Grape Hyacinth
Spring bulb. Deciduous. About 40 species of 3 related genera. Stands 4–12 in. (10–30 cm) tall. Straplike, short to midlength green leaves.
Commonly cultivated species include grape hyacinth, Muscari armeniacum; tassel hyacinth, Muscari comosum; broad-leaved grape hyacinth, Muscari latifolium; and starch grape hyacinth, Muscari neglectum.
Azure grape hyacinth, Muscari azureum (syn. Pseudomuscari azureum), is a species in a related genera and has similar culture and care requirements.
Common grape hyacinth, Muscari botryoides, is a native plant listed as a noxious weed by the U.S. states of Utah and Tennessee; avoid cultivation.
Grape Hyacinth Planting and Care Guide
Flowers
Early spring. Blue, pink, purple, white. Multiple tube-shaped, fragrant flowers, to 1/4‑in. (6‑mm) long, in tiers ascending along stalk, form a cone-shaped cluster.
Best Climates
U.S.D.A. Plant Hardiness Zones 3–11; ground hardy, zones 5–9.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained, sandy loam. Fertility: Average. 6.0–7.0 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Autumn in full sun to partial shade. Space 4–6 in. (10–15 cm) apart, 2–3 in. (50–75 mm) deep.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep moist in spring, dry in summer. Fertilize until buds form. Mulch. Propagate by offsets, seed. To prevent naturalizing, mow or remove spent flower blossoms and scapes promptly after flowers fade.
Lifting and Storing
Dark, 40–50°F (4–10°C), in net bag or open basket of dry peat moss.
About This Species
Good choice for beds, borders, containers, drifts, edgings, massed plantings, mixed plantings in indoor, meadow, rock, woodland gardens. Good for cutting. Naturalizes; dropped seed requires 3–4 seasons before first flowering. Deer, rodent resistant.