Hyacinthoides non-scripta Alba

The Hyacinthoides non scripta Alba, also known as the white Scilla nutans, is the rare white-flowered version of the Wood Hyacinth, the lovely bulbous plant that blooms with bluebells in our cool undergrowth in April. Very easy to grow in cool soil and climate, it stays in place and naturalizes, forming beautiful colonies over the years, very bright in spring in the semi-shaded areas of the garden, including under deciduous trees.

The Hyacinthoides non scipta, from the Hyacinthaceae family, is sometimes called 'leaning scilla', 'little hyacinth' or 'leaning endymion'. It is a perennial herbaceous plant by its bulb. It is native to the undergrowth of Western Europe, including central and western France. This forest botanical species is accustomed to cool, humus-rich, and siliceous soils, but it is easily cultivated in a well-prepared garden soil. The 'Alba' form is extremely rare in nature. Its storage organ is an ovoid bulb covered with a tunic. The vegetation emerges from the ground in spring; the bulb produces a clump of long and narrow upright basal leaves, shiny, and bright green. With rapid growth, this nodding scilla reaches about 30 cm (12in) in height and spreads laterally by producing numerous daughter bulbs. Flowering occurs in April-May. Fleshy stems emerge from the foliage, bearing on their curved end a cluster of small semi-pendulous white bell-shaped flowers, all arranged on the same side of the stem. This slightly fragrant flowering is attractive to bees as it provides nectar. The flowers are followed by capsules containing seeds that easily germinate in the following spring.

The white Scilla nutans is a charming wild plant; over time, it forms wonderful flower carpets under deciduous trees, in clearings and in semi-shaded areas of the garden. It is best to give it a slightly neglected corner because when it is happy, which is often the case, this little bulbous plant spreads and naturalizes to our great pleasure. It naturally associates with its blue or pink varieties, narcissus, hepaticas, hellebores, and wood anemone.