"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 27 Jul 2015 22:29:51 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 27/07/2015 21:45, Spider wrote:
On 27/07/2015 21:38, Phil L wrote:
Re-landscaping someone's garden at the min, laying paving etc and I've
excavated a flowerbed in order to pave over it.
There are hundreds of bulbs there, I've salvaged a bucketful but no
idea
what they are, google images isn't helping.

They have no roots coming off the bottom, are pure white, no skin
(tunic?)
they're about 1.5 inches round, they look like new potatoes! also they
have
an indentation on top where previous growth has been.

I suppose the closest match I've found is grape hyacinth, but they
seem to
have a reddish tinge and these have no other colours anywhere other
than
white.

if they are grapes I'll probably not plant them here as they tend to
go
a
bit berserk




Not sure about the reddish tinge, but might Allium be a possibility?
You
may find, if so, that they have an onion scent.

My thought is bluebell bulbs, but why not ask a neighbour if they know
what grew there.
To have no foliage now they must be spring flowering.
David @ a wintry side of Swansea Bay

That's really good idea! I think 1.5 inches is too big for grape
hyacinths
and bluebells though.

LOL! You've obviously never had to dig out dozens of them as I have,
Spanish ones from my mother's garden where they had become rampant,
spreading both by seed and bulb offsets. Easily distinguished from
daffs and other narcissi. Spanish bluebell bulbs come in all sorts of
sizes and shapes, from elongated sausages up to about 4" long, to
near-spheres up to about 2" diameter, but all pure white and seem to
shed the soil cleanly.

I stand corrected, Chris, and yes you are right, I've never had to dig
Spanish bluebells up. I bow to your experience.
I do have some which the previous owner of this house planted, but they are
not particularly rampant after 30 years, so I haven't bothered to dig them
up.
The only thing they stopped me doing when I was establishing my wood was
planting genuine English bluebells.