Re: Blue flower in the lawn (was Brugmansia)

K1MIZE@aol.com wrote:
> 
> All:
> 
> My Brugmansia x candida "Double White" has been blooming for over a month
> now.  Is this normal for our area (Central Valley of California)?  I know we
> had an exceptionally mild winter, and mine are in pots on a covered patio,
> but it still seems rather early to me.  A couple of plants that I started
> from cuttings last summer are also blooming, even though they are only 18"
> tall.  The fragrance on my patio this morning was heavenly.  I want to thank
> Kemberly McLain, of Katy, Texas, for her cuttings.  One of the plants of the
> 'fragrant yellow-flowered' variety I started from her cuttings is already
> starting to bloom!  My only problem with these beauties is that they seem to
> attract every insect and molusc for miles around, and as a result are always
> rather full of holes and covered with slime.  Any suggestions?
> 
> I'm also wondering if my banana, Musa sumatrana "Zebrina rojo," has bitten
> the dust.  I would have thought it could survive a mild winter on a covered
> patio, but the leaves gradually shriveled up this winter, and the resulting
> bare stalks are decidedly dead-looking.  I'm interested in hearing about
> others' experience with this plant.
> 
> One more thing.  While walking through an older neighborhood in Modesto
> recently, I came across several houses whose front lawns were covered with
> lovely, pale blue flowers, no higher than the level of the grass.  Upon
> closer inspection, they were somewhat irregularly five-petalled, and about
> 2-3 cm across.  They arose from small clumps of rather fleshy, dark green,
> grass-like leaves, 6-7 cm in length.  A very low-growing bulbous plant,
> apparently.  Looks like it thrives and spreads in lawns, and would be a
> wonderful accompaniment to English daisies and other things that are blooming
> in lawns this time of year.  Any ideas?  Thanks.
> 
Kurt 
Others have suggested this plant may be Ipheon uniflorum. I grow this
myself as a border on a herbaceous bed, but if this is really what you
saw I wouldn't be too happy to have it in a lawn myself, as the leaves
are a bit on the vigorous and  fleshy side.

However, I can make another suggestion for a really lovely summer effect
involving something with leaves  more compatible with grasses. 

In local lawns here which are not treated with weedkillers, including
mine, there is commonly a tiny species of Sisyrhinchium (Blue-eyed
grass) which through much of summer spangles the lawn with extremely
pretty small mauve-blue stars. This particular species (which is an
introduced plant) is classed here as merely a very minor weed. I don't
think the species name has even been determined, but as the genus is
actually American I am sure  it or some other similar small species must
be available to you. The plants are very neat in growth and when not in
flower blend almost indistinguishably with the grass.

If you can't find a Sisyrhinchium sufficiently tiny for this purpose, I
could probably collect you some seed off mine.

Moira

Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand. (on the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
Lat. 41:16S Long. 174:58E. Climate: Mediterranean/Temperate
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