Leopoldia comosa (syn. Muscari comosum)
When spring rolls around and the adorable grape hyacinth flowers (Muscari spp.) come out of the ground, the garden takes on a whimsical vibe.
I even welcome the bulbs that pop up unexpectedly in the lawn.
Now take that sense of whimsy and turn the volume way, way up.
Feather aka tassel hyacinth has the same grape-like flowers, only it’s like they’ve exploded, appearing on the end of long stalks.
Combined in groups, they look like plumes of feathers popping up in the garden.
Taller than their grape hyacinth cousins, these fascinating flowers can grow up to two feet tall. Although the individual plants are around six inches wide, they spread happily in clumps wherever the conditions are welcoming.
Feather hyacinth grows in US Hardiness Zones 5 to 8 and returns reliably year after year from underground bulbs. Growing them is easy. To help you figure out how to do it, we’re going to cover the following:
What You’ll Learn
Feather hyacinth was formerly classified as Muscari comosa, but recent changes in the Muscari genus created five new subgenera and a few species were moved out of the Muscari genus and put into separate genera of their own.
Tassel grape hyacinth, as it’s also known, was one of these species.
It was reclassified into the Leopoldia genus, which is composed of plants that look similar to Muscari but are generally taller with flower spikes that are more open, or spread apart, than its close relative.
You’ll still see tassel hyacinth classified as Muscari, and its care needs are pretty much the same as those of grape hyacinths, which you can read about in our guide.
Quick Look
Common name(s): Feather, tassel grape hyacinth
Plant type: Perennial flowering bulb
Hardiness (USDA Zone): 5-8
Native to: Mediterranean and southern Europe
Bloom time / season: Spring
Exposure: Full sun
Soil type: Loose, well draining
Soil pH: 6.0-7.0, slightly acidic to neutral
Time to maturity: 2 years
Mature size: 6 inches wide x 24 inches high
Best uses: Borders, containers, cottage, rock, or woodland garden
Taxonomy
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Genus: Leopoldia (syn. Muscari)
Species: Comosum
L. comosa originated in the Mediterranean and southern Europe, and can be found as far southwest as the Canary Islands and east to Iran.
Its northern limits are Great Britain and Denmark, and it ranges as far east as Ukraine.
The species has also naturalized in southern Australia and North America.
The plant takes its common name from the sterile upper flowers, which are vibrant violet-blue and appear on the end of stalks.
Below these are fertile flowers that lack the long stalks. These are more of a bluish-green color.
If you look closely at the sterile flowers, they resemble a purple menorah. The purpose of the sterile blooms is to attract pollinators to the fertile flowers underneath.
While the plants are self-fertile, they can also be cross-pollinated.
After the flowers fade, dry, empty seed capsules remain. At that point, the plant dies back to the ground. Underground, the reddish-pink oval bulbs store up energy for the following year.
Tassel hyacinths have been in cultivation for centuries but not necessarily because gardeners were interested in the blossoms. The bulbs are edible and they can be harvested before the flower stalks emerge.
The preserved bulbs are a culinary treat in Italy and are known as lampascioni sott’olio, which translates to wild tassel hyacinth bulbs in oil. It’s served as an appetizer.
Somewhere along the way, plant breeders decided to focus on the funky flowers. At one point, there were two similar-looking cultivars: ‘Plumosum’ and ‘Monstrosum.’
They are treated as the same cultivar today, but they were distinct at one point.
The ‘Plumosum’ cultivar has flower stems fully covered in the sterile, branched purple blossoms.
These feathery stalks of flowers grow in mid-spring, typically around May, depending on where you live.
The foliage appears in clumps of up to six inch long, linear, grass-like leaves.
How to Grow
Thanks to their height, feather hyacinth are fabulous in floral borders. Mix them with daffodils, tulips, and irises for an ongoing display.
They’re also beautiful in rock gardens, popping up among the stones and paired with sedums.
Let them spread unchecked in a woodland setting or cottage garden. The impact of a mass planting of the tasseled blossoms is hard to imagine until you see it.
They also work in large containers.
Next let’s talk about their growing requirements:
Light
Plant feather hyacinth in full sun for the best blooms. They can survive in less light, but they won’t flower well.
Make sure they are exposed to at least six hours of sunlight per day.
Soil
While they’ll tolerate some sand or clay, the soil should ideally be loose, with good drainage, and a pH between 6.0 to 7.0.
A little bit of clay or sand is fine, but avoid heavy clay or extremely sandy soil. Heavy clay drains poorly and sand is hard to keep moist.
Water
During the spring and through flowering, the ground should stay consistently moist.
After flowering, you can basically stop watering. They tolerate drought and go semi-dormant during the dry summer.
Fertilizing
Don’t fertilize your feather hyacinth plants. If you feed them, they’ll focus on growing the foliage rather than the flowers.
No offense to the foliage, but it just kind of looks like grass. Certainly not the focal point. We want flowers!
Containers
If you’re worried about them spreading, grow your bulbs in containers.
Make sure the pot is large enough to allow them to spread a bit and it has drainage holes at the bottom.
A three- or five-gallon pot would be perfect. Fill the container with any standard potting soil.
Learn more about growing Muscari in containers here.
Where to Buy
I’m not going to lie; it can be hard to find these plants. Look at specialty nurseries, especially those that stock lots of different bulbs.
Online resources can be especially useful for hunting down rare and unusual plants like this.
Maintenance
There’s no maintenance required with feather hyacinth unless they start to spread where you don’t want them.
If that happens, the best way to remove them is to dig down and pull out the bulbs. You can plant these elsewhere or give them away to fellow gardeners.
Propagation
Getting started with feather hyacinth is simply a case of planting the bulbs. You can divide overgrown clumps as well.
When planting, set the bottom of the bulb about five inches deep in the ground.
That might sound deep, but the bulbs have retractile roots that tug them even deeper into the ground. Space the bulbs about an inch apart.
You can learn more in our guide to propagating grape hyacinth.
Managing Pests and Disease
Feather hyacinth has few problems. And by few I mean you’re more likely to be dealing with constraining the plants than trying to nurture them through an issue.
Aphids are the most likely pest you’ll encounter. They use their sucking mouthparts to feed on the leaves and stems, causing yellowing and stunted growth, if there are enough of them.
Use a gentle stream of water from the hose to spray the aphids off the plant.
You might need to do this a few times, once a week for a month. There’s no need to turn to insecticides.
Welcome Our Feathered Friends
These funky flowers are effortless to care for while adding some unusual and outsized impact with the tassels of bright purple flowers.
Are you already a fan of grape hyacinth and you’re looking for something a little bit extra? Let us know how you intend to use your feathered friends in the comments section below!
If you’d like to learn more about growing grape hyacinth in the garden, have a read of these guides next:
