Puschkinia (striped squill)

* Common name: Striped squill

Close-up of puschkinia in full bloom, early April.

* Botanical name: Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica

* What it is: A small, early-spring-blooming bulb that puts out star-shaped flowers of white that have blue stripes down the middle of each petals. Good colonizer that usually gets better with age. Seldom bothered by animal pests.

* Size: 4 to 6 inches tall.

* Where to use: Makes a nice front-of-the-border edging but also works well massed around trees and in wooded settings. Sun or part shade.

* Care: Scatter a balanced, organic granular fertilizer such as Bulb Booster or Bulb-tone over the beds in late spring and/or fall. Cut foliage to ground after it yellows. Bulbs are best planted in October.

* Great partner: Around the base of most any tree. Can also be interplanted with hyacinths, Siberian squill and/or glory-of-the-snow — other pastel-flowered bulbs that bloom about the same time.

— George Weigel