Siberian squill, native to southwestern Russia, the Caucasus, and Turkey is, curiously,
not native to Siberia. Brought to North America as a garden plant, it has escaped, and
is weedy to invasive in
some midwestern regions, and shouldn’t be planted. Pretty though!
Plants: A perennial, 4-8″ (10-20 cm) × 1¾″ (5 cm).
Leaves: 2-4 strap-shaped, dark green, basal leaves emerge from an underground
bulb. Each leaf is linear-oblong 5″ (12 cm) × ¼-½″ (6.3-12 mm).
Flowers: One to three flowers atop a slender, naked stem up to 6″ (15 cm)
long.
Nodding, blue, bell-shaped when not fully open. (There is a white-flowered
variety, as well as white, pink or blue-violet cultivars.) Each flower has six petals
and six white stamens with blue tips. This is an early spring bloomer.
Fruits: Seed pods gradually turn purple and split, releasing
small, dark brown seeds.