Atlantic Camas

Camassia scilloides

Atlantic camas is a spring-blooming bulb native that creates something rare in the spring garden: vertical spikes of soft blue to pale violet flowers that rise above grassy foliage in April and May. The star-shaped blooms are individually delicate but multiply along each spike, creating a soft-colored column that reads as a gentle, ethereal blue from any distance. It naturalizes slowly in moist meadows and wet woodland openings, increasing each year without becoming aggressive. Historically one of the most important food plants of eastern Native American peoples, the bulbs providing a starchy, nutritious food source through winter. Today, it's a beautiful and increasingly rare addition to naturalized moist meadow and rain garden plantings. Plant in drifts for the best visual effect; small groupings look lonely.