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| Camassia (Quamash) |
The Daily DuBrule
I have heavy clay soil in my back yard. We're talking the kind of stuff that you could make pottery out of. Dig a hole during a wet spring and it will fill up with water. Bulbs hate that. Except for Camassias. They thrive in wet soil. So, I planted a ton of them in my lower borders and they all started to bloom this week. They are blue. Not purple. Blue. Pretty spikes, totally perennial, soft and beautiful. I am thrilled.
With all the talk about native plants, its rare that you hear about planting native bulbs. Daffodils, tulips, snowdrops, Scilla, none of them are native to CT, never mind the U.S.A. Enter Camassias, prized by native Americans. In fact, the bulbs were eaten and ground into flour. Click here to read an interesting Wikepedia article on Camassias. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camassia_quamash They belong here and I am so glad I have a yard that makes them happy.
I've been a fan of Natureworks since it opened, and I read the newsletters religiously but somehow I missed out on the blog. What a treasure. Thank goodness I found it, even if it took me a while.
ReplyDeleteI love Camassia. Who would have guessed I had the perfect soil for it. Love the idea of covering over the dying bleeding heart with a butterfly bush. Thank you.