Description
This is simply the largest form of Scilla autumnalis that we have ever seen!
Scilla autumnalis, as we normally grow it, has bulbs 1.5-2 cm across at the most but in Titan the bulbs are 4-5 cm in diameter. Additionally Titan bulbs produce side bulbs which stay attached to the mother-bulb for a couple of years before separating, so that the bulbs look even larger.
In early autumn several flowering shoots develop and these are 40- 60 cm each long bearing a long-lasting succession made of masses of small, rosy pink flowers. This form is a true clone and in addition it never set seeds, perhaps because it is a single clone. Originally just 1 bulb was collected, in 1984 by R. & E. Franke in Turkey. Over the years a clonal stock has been built up from this single bulb, and 2016 represented our first ever offering.
It is perfectly hardy both here and also in the harsher climate of central Europe and it grows well out in the open garden with some drainage, but without any protection. A sunny, well drained loam soil is all that is needed.
This is so very different that it is perfectly possible that it is a new species, but this would be difficult to discern due to the current flux in the taxonomy of Scilla where so many trivial and silly species have been described of late.
One of our pictures shows what is just an average sized bulb of Titan next to two quite large bulbs of the ordinary form of Scilla autumnalis.
