Striped squill
Puschkinia scilloides · Asparagaceae
Short spikes of the palest blue flowers, each petal with a darker blue stripe down the centre, in early spring.
- Size
- 5 in tall, 3 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late March to mid April
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Bulb layer
A bed built around striped squill
The planner designed this bed around striped squill when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why striped squill stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Moor grass 'Greenlee' × 8, tan
- 2 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 13, yellow
- 3 Brown-eyed Susan × 5, yellow
- 4 Blue wood aster × 5, lavender
- 5 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Virginia bluebells × 3, blue
- 7 Striped squill × 5, blue
- 8 Spring snowflake × 8, white
Why this plant
- Nothing here is unique to it. Its leaf, flower shape and colour are all on the plan already. Its case rests on where it stands and when it performs.
Why here
- In the middle. At 5 in it stands ahead of inkberry 'Gem Box' (2½ ft) without hiding it.
- 5 plants in one handful. In the gaps between other plants, which fill the space when the bulb is not in growth.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From late March to mid April.
- Fills a gap. For one of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
- Leaves gone by midsummer. They die back and leave bare ground. A perennial that comes up late stands beside it, and grows over the gap.
Planned as a cottage garden: 35 of the 35 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. The back corners are held by brown-eyed Susan and blue wood aster, the tallest plants on the plan. Cool colours (lavender and blue) with yellow as the warm note, and tan and white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where striped squill goes in a border
At 5 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: bulb layer. Small bulbs planted in handfuls of five or seven in the gaps between other plants, for colour before the perennials wake up.
A cool, pale blue that reads almost white from a distance. Plant it in hundreds: single bulbs are lost.
- An icy-blue carpet under shrubs
- Naturalising in grass
- With early daffodils
What to plant with striped squill
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Daffodil 'Tete-a-Tete': blue against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for four weeks.
- Snowdrop.
- Lenten rose: in flower together for four weeks, from late March; bold leaves against its fine ones; tall enough (18 in) to stand behind it.
Questions about striped squill
Does striped squill need sun or shade?
Striped squill grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does striped squill grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does striped squill flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late March to mid April. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Early April to late April |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late March to mid April |
| Zone 6 | Late March to mid April |
| Zone 7 | Mid March to early April |
| Zone 8 | Early March to late March |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should striped squill be planted?
3 in (7 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3 in (8 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 in (12 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many striped squill plants do I need?
At 3 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 219 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 44 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 701 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as handfuls of five or seven, in the gaps between other plants.
In the bed above, the planner used five in one group.
Is striped squill poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat striped squill?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
Will striped squill spread?
It seeds itself about; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Multiplies by offsets and seed and spreads through a bed over time. It is easy to lift where it is not wanted.
What can I plant to hide striped squill's leaves after it flowers?
A bulb's leaves have to be left to yellow for about six weeks after flowering, to feed next year's flowers. Plant it among perennials that come up late and spread wide, and they grow over the leaves as they fade:
- Hosta: 18 in tall and 2½ ft wide, in flower mid July to mid August.
- Lady's mantle: 18 in tall and 24 in wide, in flower late May to early July.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': 24 in tall and 2½ ft wide, in flower mid May to mid September.
What does striped squill look like in winter?
Striped squill is underground: it dies back after flowering and waits as a bulb until spring. Mark where it is, so a fork does not find it first.
In these guides
- Plants that grow near black walnut
- Deer-resistant plants for shade
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Plants with blue flowers
Every fact on record
- Type
- Bulb
- Size
- 5 in (12 cm) tall, 3 in (8 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3 in (7 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late March to mid April; hanging bells; blue
- Leaves
- Fine texture, summer-dormant; green
- Shape
- Upright, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Asparagaceae
- Comes from
- Western Asia, Turkey to Iran and the Caucasus
- Stands up to
- Deer, black walnut
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.