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Asparagaceae
Glory of the Snow
Chionodoxa luciliae
Hope, beginnings, renewal.
- Family
- Asparagaceae
- Genus
- Chionodoxa
- Native to
- Western Turkey
- Bloom season
- Early Spring
- Type
- Bulbous perennial
- Height
- 10–15 cm
- Sunlight
- Full sun to part shade
- Soil
- Well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Hardiness
- 3–8
- Lifespan
- Long-lived
Did you know
- The genus name Chionodoxa comes from Greek chion (snow) and doxa (glory) — a perfect description of how its star-shaped flowers push through patches of melting snow.
- It naturalizes faster than almost any other small bulb, often forming dense carpets within a few years from a single planting.
- Each flower is sky-blue at the edges with a paler — almost white — center, looking like a miniature constellation when bloomed in mass.
- Botanists have recently moved Chionodoxa into the genus Scilla, though gardeners still use the old name for the marketing romance of 'glory of the snow'.
- It was first introduced to European horticulture in 1877 by the Swiss botanist Pierre Edmond Boissier.
Color meanings
Blue
Triumph over winter