Camassia Cusickii - flower bulbs and perennial plants from Holland

Camassia cusickii. New! Camassia cusickii will delight you with its flowering in late spring and early summer, along with peonies and irises. It is still a rare guest in our gardens, but in vain. Camassia appeared in Europe recently, at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It was first described in 1888 by S. Watson.

The homeland of Kuzik's camassia is the taiga zones of western America, from Lake Vancouver to California. Its habitat is damp meadows and areas along streams. It belongs to the lily family. It is a bulbous plant with a bunch of basal leaves that emerge from the bulb after the snow melts. Later, the plant produces an erect peduncle, which is the same as that of delphiniums or lupins. Its height reaches up to one metre. The inflorescences consist of up to eighty flowers. They are up to 5 cm in diameter and light blue in colour. The perianth consists of six narrow lobes. Unlike Leichtlin's Alba camassia, it is of the correct shape: all the perianth leaves are equally sized. In addition, they are slightly curved. The fully opened petals clearly show golden stamens. In late summer, the fruit ripens - a triangular box with many seeds. Flowering is long, about three weeks. Flowers bloom a little earlier than in S. Leichtlinii.

The bulbs are membranous, ovoid, up to 5 cm in diameter. They have an unpleasant smell. They consist of many scales. The basal leaves are lanceolate, with a wavy edge, up to 60 cm long and bluish-green in colour.

The plant is ideal for creating borders and for free planting in gardens. It is combined with such plants as Berberis thunbergii 'Rose Glow' (has purple leaves with pink and white markings); Photinia x fraseri 'Red Robin' (blood-red young leaves), etc. The flowers are beautiful in a cut. This beautiful plant does well in full sun or partial shade. The soil should be moist and permeable, with a neutral reaction. When planting, the distance between plants should be at least 20 cm from each other.