Striped Squill is a small, densely flowering, perennial bulb producing late winter or early spring blossoms. It is in the asparagus family and native to western Asia. In the wild, it can be found growing in alpine meadows near the snow line. The plant grows in a 4 to 6 inch clump of fragrant blue or white flowers and strap-shaped leaves. The genus name honors a Russian botanist, Mussin-Puschkin, who died in 1805. The species name refers to the resemblance of this plant to Scilla . Striped Squill does best in moist, well-drained fertile soils in full sun to part shade. You should plant the bulbs 2 to 3 inches deep and 3 inches apart, about 15 to 20 bulbs per square inch, in Fall for blossoms the following Spring. Striped Squill tolerates summer drought, but you should keep it consistently moist during growing season. The plant naturalizes by both self-seeding and bulb offsets, but does go dormant in late spring. Do not mow the foliage or remove the plant after bloom until the whole plant turns yellow. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No known diseases or insect pests.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
High Organic Matter; Loam (Silt)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist
Available space
Less than 12 inches
Mature size
Height: 0 ft. 3 in. - 0 ft. 6 in. | Width: 0 ft. 3 in. - 0 ft. 6 in.
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
5 - Groundcover (<1 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Clumping
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf shape
Oblong
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
Each bulb produces two dark-green strap-shaped leaves.
Flower color
Blue; White
Flower value
Fragrant; Showy
Flower form
Raceme
Flower shape
Star
Flower detail
A flower-bearing, leafless stem (scape) bearing few to many, very pale blue, star-like flowers in a loose terminal raceme. Each flower petal has a blue inside center stripe, though some entirely white-petaled forms may be found. Blooms in late winter to early spring.