Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)

White Squill

Snake Plant

Camas

English Bluebell

Star of Bethlehem

Lily of the Valley

Solomon's Seal

Mayflower

Yucca

Yucca foliage

Hosta

False Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum racemosum)

Mianthemum racemosum.

Grape Hyacinth

Hyacinth

Hyacinths, Hyacinthus orientalis, are a wonderfully fragrant spring bulb. They always look a little contrived to me, a bit to big, beautiful and perfect to be real, but they are quite lovely.

Hyacinths are named for a young man accidentally killed by Apollo. The flowers supposedly grew from his blood.

The plant is poisonous and can cause rashes.

Hyacinths are lily relatives, with parts in threes. The petals and sepals are identical, making it look as if the plant has six petals per flower. The linear leaves have parallel veins.

The petals are slightly narrower than the sepals, and the stamens are attached to them:

Siberian squill

Squill, Scilla Sp., is a lovely little spring bulb with brilliant blue petals. It's related to lilies, with parts in threes. There are three petals and three identical sepal, so it looks like 6. you can see there are no green sepals at the back of the flower. Six stamens with bluish anthers. Is the pollen blue as well?

This one is probably Siberian squill, which is actually from the Caucuses, not Siberia. Soviet squill, perhaps? It's the most common squill planted in gardens and naturalized in lawns here in central New Jersey.

Glory of the Snow

Glory of the snow, Chionodoxa sp., is a beautiful little spring bulb from Turkey. The dark blue petals with white toward the center are distinctive, and presumably act as nectar guides for polinators.

These were planted at the Grounds for Sculpture in Trenton, and they are fairly uncommon and inconspicuous in the area, but I have meant for years to put some in for myself, as I love the brilliant color so early in the year.

Glory of the snow is a monocot, with parallel-veined, grass-like leaves and flower parts in threes. The three petals and three sepals look nearly identical. They are fused at the base to form a tube.

It is related to asparagus, liy of the valley, trilliums and Solomon's seal, of which only Solomon's seal grows wild near here.