Flower of the Day – Grape Hyacinth

Grape hyacinth is an ornamental plant that grows from bulbs in the spring:

It is native to Southern Europe, but has been extensively naturalized all around the world, including Canada and the United States.  In Mexico, grape hyacinths do not grow in the wild, and are not very commonly found in gardens; the name in Spanish is the same as in English, jacintos de la uva. The name comes entirely from its appearance: first, from the resemblance of its flowers to a bunch of grapes, usually blue or light purple, with a narrow mouth and growing in racemes; secondly, this arrangement is similar to that of hyacinths (Hyacinthus sp.).  However, grape hyacinths belong to Muscari, a different botanical genus.  There are several species of grape hyacinth, hard to distinguish; the most common in the US is Muscari armeniacum, and in Canada Muscari botryoides, as shown below:

FUN FACT:  Grape hyacinth flowers are edible.  Although somewhat bitter when raw, their scent and colour are great when prepared into a syrup, and they contain vitamins and antioxidants.  

CAUTION: True hyacinths are toxic.  As with any other kind of foraging, make sure that you have identified the plant, and it has been grown without chemicals.  I collected a few grape hyacinth racemes from my garden last week, as seen below. Stay tuned for a syrup recipe and tips, in my next post.

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I am joining Cee’s Flower of the Day (FOTD) Challenge for April 26, 2024.