The Spring Flower To Plant Under Cherry Blossom Trees For A Beautiful Blooming Display

There's nothing quite as spectacular as cherry blossom trees in full bloom in spring. These flowering trees will bring romance to your yard as they light up the landscape with their delicate pink flowers and carpet the ground as the petals start to drop. If you want to amplify this beautiful blooming display even further, why not consider underplanting your cherry blossom trees with spring flowering bulbs? A superb choice for this is a cultivar of wild hyacinth, namely Camassia leichtlinii 'Blue Danube.' This stunning spring flowering bulb has the most delightful violet-blue flowers on tall spikes that can reach heights of up to three feet.

As a species, wild hyacinth is native to the U.S. and Canada and can be grown in USDA hardiness zones 4 through 8. They're perennials, so once you plant the bulbs in your garden under your cherry blossom trees, they'll continue to come up year after year. As a bonus, when the cherry blossom petals start to fall, you'll end up with a gorgeous carpet of blue and pink that's offset by the green strappy leaves of the bulbs. The 'Blue Danube' blooms also make great cut flowers, so you can bring some of that spring color indoors to brighten up your home as well. Plant these spring-blooming bulbs in the fall for a colorful cottage garden display.

The ideal time to plant wild hyacinth bulbs is in early fall before the ground gets too cold. They appreciate fertile soil that's well-drained and should be planted around four to six inches deep with a spacing of six inches between each bulb. If you live in one of the colder regions, it's a good idea to cover the soil around your bulbs with a decent layer of mulch. Once your wild hyacinths are in the ground, it's best to leave them undisturbed until the clumps become too overcrowded. When this happens, and it can take a few years because the plants are slow to multiply, you can dig up the clumps and divide them in late summer.  Then, you can plant the bulbs again in early fall.

Like your cherry blossom trees, 'Blue Danube' will appreciate regular watering while in bloom to ensure the flowers continue their magnificent display. Once flowering has finished, watering can be reduced because the plants will go dormant in summer. You'll find that these beauties are deer-resistant as well. While 'Blue Danube' can also be grown from seed, it will usually take around three to four years before the plants start to produce flowers, so growing them from bulbs is definitely the way to go. Finally, another good reason to consider growing wild hyacinths in your yard is that they're one of several flowering plants that thrive in soggy soil.