Ipheion uniflorum (Wisley Blue).

the wisley blues planted under the backyard oak last december have sprouted. the original 10 planted have multiplied to 20+ so far. several are good and sturdy with lots of leaves, others are obviously new offsets which might or might not bloom this season.

when the foliage began appearing a few weeks ago i initially thought it was the ever insidious, much detested liriope. the tree is circled with liriope and although i thinned it considerably a few weeks ago, bits of root continue to sprout (and i continue to pull them up without mercy). however, before yanking up these sprouts which looked almost-but-not-quite like the liriope sprouts, i took a closer look. the ipheion uniflorum foliage is flat and grass-like and the same width as liriope foliage, but the i. uniflorum is a lighter shade of green and lacks the striation on the reverse that the liriope has. also, each liriope sprout has two or more leaves as it comes up; the i. uniflorum sprouts a single leaf first.

after a few days i remembered a) that i had planted a few different bulbs under this tree and b) i had read that one of those bulbs had foliage that smelled of onions. i. uniflorum is that bulb.

i hope some will bloom. last year they bloomed in march and april.