Yes I am. I am proud to admit it. It might not be fashionable, but I love scilla.
This is not, or never has been my house.
When I lived in Kingston, my house was well on its way to having a “blue” lawn. Year after year, the tide spread further and further. But, then I moved.
Neither is this!
I have never purchased a historical home, and not had a multitude of plants and bulbs, until this one. Why were the previous owners not gardeners? It pains me greatly to go for walks around the neighbourhood and see other peoples gardens, covered with snowdrops, or scilla. And then I come home to mine to find, NOTHING!
I am trying to change this, but it is like water carving a stone. It takes forever!
This is my first attempt to turn my lawn blue. I planted 150 scilla plants (I thought a lot when I was digging) and this is the result.
This is my house!
How many years and how many bulbs will it take to achieve the effect I am looking for?
I am a floral designer living in a tiny condo in downtown Toronto, Canada's largest city. But on the weekend, I am a gardener/frustrated architect trying to keep up with a 3/4 acre garden in Owen Sound, Ontario, a warm (to Canadians, Zone 5b, and a cold (to Americans, Zone 4b) garden.
Green Theatre 
Joy said,
April 26, 2010 @ 7:10 AM
Deborah .. ah yes … those historical houses that have established bulb displays .. they are beauties .. but yes, it takes a lot of time .. don’t despair girl ! You made a wonderful start and they WILL multiply !!
I love scilla too but haven’t planted them in the front .. you have me wondering now ? LOL
Joy
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 1:38 PM
Thanks Joy, patience is a virtue isn’t it. too bad I didn’t get any, lol.
heather @ what's blooming this week said,
April 26, 2010 @ 8:14 AM
it’s always been a dream of mine to have a blue lawn, too. But like you I move too much. There is a home in our neighbourhood that I have lusted after for years because of it’s blue lawn. Tried to naturalize some crocuses once, but moved before they really multiplied. And the new owners mowed them down. Oh well, we can always look at these beautiful pictures you posted.
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 1:39 PM
I hope that the owners of all my previous houses appreciate all the scilla and snowdrops I have left behind. Hope they weren’t mowed down as well!
Jen said,
April 26, 2010 @ 9:51 AM
If you are silly for them, then so am I. We live in a older condo, over 30 years old, and the front and back gardens are covered in them. I adore that blue, and last night I noticed a patch of white, pure white ones….
There was a older English lady who hated them, despised them, called them weeds. But to me they are beauties, delicate, but solid.
I have plans for when we move and get our farm. The snowdrops, scilla, and lily of the valley, that I have so carefully been cultivating in my little garden patches outside of our patio are coming with me.
I too, wish for a blue lawn, smothered in Scilla, and then garden beds speckled with Lily of the valley.
Can’t wait.
Jen
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 1:41 PM
Jen, we have such good taste, lol! I do have a large clump of Lily of the Valley already, it was one of the few plants that were here. The first May, I picked one hundred flowers and could have picked more, just love it
Rebecca @ In The Garden said,
April 26, 2010 @ 11:14 AM
Great post Deborah, like the liberal use of disclaimers lol. I have no idea how long it will take to establish, are scilla known for spreading rampantly?
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 1:44 PM
I would have loved to have had the first one as mine, the house was amazing as well as the garden! Scilla are a bit of a “weed”, but such a lovely one. Maybe you could do a “blue” lawn as well.
ricki - sprig to twig said,
April 26, 2010 @ 11:27 AM
Like life, it will happen while you are thinking of something else, I think. They seem to multiply pretty rapidly.
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 1:46 PM
ricki, that is profound, thank you very much for that thought. Sometimes I get so caught up in the planning for the future, and I forget to enjoy the here and now.
kate said,
April 26, 2010 @ 12:47 PM
Your lawn will be covered Scilla blue before you know it. That’s what I love about Scilla. They are hardy souls and mulitiply faithfully every year. Enjoy each spring and soon your dream will be a reality.
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 1:47 PM
Thanks Kate, all I have to do is have a bit of patience!
Penelope said,
April 26, 2010 @ 4:32 PM
You’re off to a good start! Promise to post a photo this time next year so we can all follow the progress!
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 1:48 PM
I’ll do that, thank god for photos, your memory plays such tricks on you, you need that permanent image.
Curbstone Valley Farm said,
April 26, 2010 @ 5:49 PM
I’m not very familiar with Scilla, but I’m sure it will fill in soon. It’s the most difficult part of being a gardener…being patient! I just try to think back on my previous gardens, and really, the years pass quite quickly, and it’s amazing how much they change from year to year. I’d love to see your blue lawn in progress next year…then you should link back to this post, and you’ll be able to appreciate just how much it has changed!
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 1:50 PM
It does seems like the years pass quickly, when you look back. I hadn’t noticed how the hedges in my garden had grown, until a reader who had read my blog from the beginning, remarked on it. I’ll be sure to link back to it next year.
Laurrie said,
April 26, 2010 @ 7:54 PM
All of a sudden one spring years from now you’ll look at your front yard and say wow, where’d all those pretty scilla come from? They’ve spread everywhere. Oh, for some patience, it’s the hardest thing to grow.
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 1:51 PM
My patience needs a little fertilizer on it, so it can start growing! I expect trees to take time and have lots of patience for them, that must be where it has all gone.
Kelly@LifeOutOfDoors said,
April 26, 2010 @ 9:47 PM
You’ve planted 150! That’s so many more than the zero I’ve planted. I always come up with other projects that are more, how shall I say, immediately gratifying. But you’re yard will be amazing one spring a few years hence. Glad you took pictures of your neighbors – I’m not alone in needing to borrow to get the pictures in my head onto the screen.
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 1:53 PM
I guess you have to start somewhere, and I am trying to plan things, so that when I move there full time, things will be a bit more mature. I am definitely a visual person, always taking pictures of ideas I might try in my garden one day.
teza said,
April 26, 2010 @ 10:12 PM
D:
I planted 10 bulbs and had three flowers, but God they were so tantalizing! You’re bound to be rewarded as they do spread like wildfire after their first bloom…. hence the reason I only planted 10, I haven’t the acerage for a wildfire, let alone a bonfire!
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 1:56 PM
What!!!! You should have got at least one flower stem per bulb, and mine throw out 4 or 5 stems per bulb. I think that you got defective bulbs, maybe they had dried out before you got them? I thought that you would like the “Teza blue” of the flower.
Jean said,
April 26, 2010 @ 10:29 PM
Deborah, I, too, have longed for that scilla blue lawn effect. I think they are the most amazing color of blue, and the idea of them mirroring the color of a blue sky in spring is so enticing. I planted about 100 scilla bulbs one year, but not much ever came of them. When I redo the front yard into a serious garden, I may have another go at it.
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 1:58 PM
On no, Jean. Between you and Teza, I am starting to worry. I thought that they were so promiscuous that they would be everywhere, now I am not so sure. But they are very beautiful.
Helen at Summerhouse said,
April 27, 2010 @ 2:59 AM
This is a wonderful plan, this blue lawn idea. I’m sure it will happen before you know it. And here I was happy with my little selection of flowers in our lawn, known as weeds by many, like buttercup, English daisy and oh, yeah, those dandelions. But I did enjoy an entire hill of blue and yellow this weekend at Beacon Hill Park here in Victoria. Amazing sight. Not sure if it was Scilla though.
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 1:59 PM
Helen, blue and yellow, such a classic combo. I seem to have more dandelions in my back yard for some reason, otherwise I would have that combo as well. And the violets in the lawn are at the other end.
Racquel said,
April 27, 2010 @ 4:55 AM
Hang in there Deborah, it may take some time but those bulbs will mulitply. I love seeing lawns that have been naturalized like this. 🙂
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 2:00 PM
I do too Racquel, and they die back before the lawns need cutting, although I did hear a couple of lawn mowers on the weekend.
sequoiagardens said,
April 27, 2010 @ 7:27 AM
Nothing in my gardening life pleases me as much, Deborah, as the fact that I started planting trees in my early 20s…
And a recent visitor to the garden turned to her husband and remarked pointedly: “See what happens if you stay in one place long enough for the trees to grow?”
But rest assured – the effects are compound and within even three years you will look at the above photo and smile knowingly…
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 2:03 PM
Jack, I could certainly say the same thing to my husband. He has moved me around with his job and I have never got to see a garden mature. I am looking forward to seeing the same garden in three years, knowing that this is my forever house.
noel said,
April 27, 2010 @ 1:18 PM
aloha,
it looks like your getting there an making progress….i love those little blues also
kilbournegrove said,
April 27, 2010 @ 2:04 PM
Thanks noel, blue has to be one of my favourite colours in the garden. I’ll post some updates in the future, we will see how they multiply.
gwendolyngarden said,
April 27, 2010 @ 5:23 PM
I feel like you can never plant enough scilla. I planted 100 the first year, and last year planted another 200. It looks great. I think I’d have to plant 1000 in order to have a blue lawn in my lifetime. (But they are cheap enough- I could probably do it!) As it is, I’ll probably stick to the 200 per year plan: they are worth it!
kilbournegrove said,
April 28, 2010 @ 1:00 PM
At 200 a year it would not take long to reach your goal of 1000, I wonder what the formula is for increasing. Do they double every year? I should count them and see.
debsgarden said,
April 27, 2010 @ 9:48 PM
Patience is a great virtue, and the purpose of a garden ( not necessarily our purpose, but the garden’s purpose!) is to teach us lessons and make us better people. Right? So we work hard and wait. And if we aren’t there to see the ultimate results, then those results are a gift to the future. Generosity is another virtue! And you have made the world a more beautiful place. But…I hope your scilla spread really, really fast and soon you will be enjoying that blue lawn, along with your field of snowdrops!
kilbournegrove said,
April 28, 2010 @ 1:02 PM
Deborah, patience is not a virtue that comes easily to me, lol. But, I am learning it, I have to be patient when I have left so many gardens and never saw them mature. Hopefully, every new owner has appreciated me leaving it a bit more beautiful.
Rosie leaves 'n blooms said,
April 28, 2010 @ 10:11 AM
Oh Deborah you will get there – just think of all the seedlings all those scilla you do have will produce for you. Scilla are famous for spreading quickly so in a few years time you will see the results at the grove. I think you will need to be careful in cutting the grass in that area as you don’t want to chop off the little seedheads. Scilla are cheap over here and I’m sure cheap on the net so you are bound to be able to get quite alot to plant this autumn aswell. Just keep a record of where the bulbs are now as when it comes to the autumn you’ll not be too sure where the clumps were. Hope this helps 🙂 Rosie
kilbournegrove said,
April 28, 2010 @ 1:06 PM
Rosie, I am more confident of my scilla lawn then I am of my snowdrop walk. They seems to increase much more rapidly. I have some frits planted in the lawn as well, so I am used to mowing around them, I am sure all my neighbours think I am lazy, lol. The record is a great idea, I always think that I will remember, and never do.
Wendy said,
April 28, 2010 @ 10:44 PM
it’s coming along!!! Maybe you should get one of those drill bulb planters and plant like hundreds this fall!
kilbournegrove said,
April 30, 2010 @ 7:22 AM
I actually just lifted a chunk of sod, placed a number of bulbs under it, and pressed the sod back into place. The trouble is my bulb budget is limited and there are soooo many ones I want to try, I’m a bit greedy.
Grace said,
April 29, 2010 @ 2:49 AM
Well, Deborah, it’s never too late to plant and to dream. I wish I could dig a few of my clumps to send your way.
kilbournegrove said,
April 30, 2010 @ 7:23 AM
Thanks Grace, that is very sweet. It seems once it is established, you have no problem finding some to share, hopefully I wll be at that point one day soon.
Carol Flower Hill Farm said,
April 29, 2010 @ 8:49 AM
Hi Deborah, I think Scilla is timeless in it’s fashion… what is not to love. I could not tell you how long you will have to wait… nor how many bulbs to plant. but with each bulb you plant you will have more and more each year. I love the lovely blue doting or carpeting the ground.
kilbournegrove said,
April 30, 2010 @ 7:29 AM
Me too, Carol, me too. It is well worth the wait.