Description
This is a brand new Chionoscilla which originated in the garden of Dr Seisums as a single plant amidst thousands of self-seeding gigantea, luciliae and tmoli (all of these {incorrect} names are “of the trade”). The late Dr. Speta diagnosed it as Chionodoxa forbesii or a possible hybrid of C. forbesii with Scilla bifolia. We are going with the latter diagnosis, based on appearance, plant behaviour and the depth of colour which we have never encountered in Chionodoxa alone.(If you regard Chionodoxa as a member of Scilla, then of course this is a Scilla hybrid!)
It has been increased clonally (seedlings cannot validly bear the name, only vegetative offspring). The segments are wider than normal for forbesii and they are broadly overlapping, especially when young.
The flowers are of an intriguing blue colour, much deeper and of a different shade to any Chionodoxa (and much more like that found in Scilla bifolia). At first it made just 1 bloom per plant, with time the larger bulbs make up to 4 per spike. It represents a wonderful new Chionodoscilla cultivar and promises to be a very good garden plant.
Aethra was one of the Oceanids, the 3,000 daughters of Oceanus and Tethys. Somehow when we named this (in 2012) being one of the 3000 daughters of two sea deities (albeit brother and sister) summed up the history of the plant, which was originally found amongst thousands of its own siblings.
Ordinary garden soil, with a good humus content and full sun is perfect for this perfectly growable but rare new cultivar. Introduced for the first time anywhere, by us, 2012.
