Quick Guide: spring, hardy, full sun, height: 20cm/8in, width: 7.5cm/3in

The intense blue of the tightly packed little flower clusters of the grape hyacinth rivals gentians in richness. They look best in clumps at the edge of a border and last well as cut flowers.

GROWING Set out bulbs 7.5cm/3in deep from late summer to autumn, in well-drained, reasonably fertile soil. Plants grown in shade will produce excessive foliage at the expense of flowers.

PROPAGATION Clumps need dividing every 3 years or they become overcrowded. Just after flowering or when dormant, lift, divide and replant parent bulbs and offsets immediately.

SPECIES Muscari armeniacum (above), 7.5cm/3in long spikes of violet-blue flowers; the variety `Early Giant' bears electric blue blooms, while `Cantab' is pale blue; M. botryoides: onlv l0cm/4in high, deep blue flowers, early spring; the variety `Album' is pure white; M. tubergenianum, the Oxford and Cambridge grape hyacinth, is so called because the upper flowers are much paler than the lower, rich blue ones.

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS Generally trouble-free.