Meet these chatty little souls keeping all happy in the garden!
If you love being amongst friends and family having a good old chat and a laugh, the grape hyacinth (Muscari neglectum) is the flower for you! The lovely sky blue ‘bunches of grapes’ with a musk scent gather tightly together in clumps, like close-knit family and friends, and their infectious energy quickly builds on itself so that before you know it, there’s a whole community in your garden, sharing jokes, jumping cartwheels and generally having a good time. They are are happiest if you just leave them to do their own thing.
Their ever-increasing little communities pop up in the most unexpected places in my garden: Gatherings of bright green ribbons dotted amongst the colourful array of dahlias in the early autumn sunshine, or slender straps of leaves in quieter and more sedate groups in the dappled shade of wild and sensual cerise pelargoniums and pristine white wind flowers blossoming as the heat of the summer fades. Every now and then a few squeeze their way through the small cracks in the pavers on the veranda, or push up through the gravel pathways in the herb garden. Then they invite their friends and family to join them over the winter to prepare for a wonderful ‘true blue’ exhibition that opens as the warm breath of spring thaws the winter chill.
It reminds me of the Grape Hyacinth Fairy in Cicely Mary Barker’s delightful book ‘The Secret World of the Flower Fairies’. With cute little blue flower tassels delicately dangling from his shoe laces, cape and hood, he’s the picture of happiness and fun sitting beneath his beloved blooms, chatting to his fellow fairy folk!
It’s small wonder that the essence of the grape hyacinth is said to open the throat chakra, the sky-blue energy centre of self-expression. The bell-shaped flowers that gather along each stem are said to symbolise the release of sound energy, tempered a little by the narrow opening at the tip, perhaps as nature’s way of making sure we think a little before we speak to avoid hurting others.
If you want to cheer up a lonely friend, give them a bunch of grape hyacinths or a handful of bulbs to plant in autumn as a reminder that there’s always someone nearby who cares and would love to chat!