Polite Company
Grape hyacinths are one of those plants capable of inducing shudders among gardeners. Anyone who has ever had to battle the invasive tendencies of the species Muscari armeniacum will agree. Given its head, this small, blue, innocuous-seeming flower will run riot, dividing its bulbs to spread underground and scattering its seed over the soil until every last scrap of garden has a covering of its floppy leaves.
On the bright side, if has already colonised your garden, at least there will be a plentiful supply of spring flowers for cutting. In Holland, Belgium and parts of Germany, grape hyacinths are grown as a cut flower, and bunches of their, and a world of much better-behaved relatives opens up.
