The garden here always goes through a bit of a slump once the tulips begin to fade. The iris haven’t kicked in yet and most of the late spring flowers aren’t doing a whole lot. Bleeding hearts, columbine, and oriental poppies would all probably help out, but camassia is what looks the best right now. I have two types, Camassia ‘Caerulea’ and ‘Blue Danube’. One is supposed to have a rich lavender color and the other a dark blue…. but I can’t tell a difference between them. One might be a few inches shorter but that could be soil or location or whatever.
The yellow iris behind is ‘Elsa Sass’, a historic iris from 1939. It blooms early for me, but maybe that’s from being close to the house.
Camassias are a bulb native to Northwestern North America and while I grow them in regular garden soil, they’re supposed to tolerate wet soils and clay soils. Apparently they’re edible too, but I’ll pass for now. This is the other clump, Camassia ‘Caerulea’. I like both types well enough, blue is always welcome and they’ve never required any special care, but for me they don’t seem to bloom very long. Just over a week seems about average, I’d much rather they held out for at least two.
sorta like suburbia 
Your camassias are lovely, and the contrast with ‘Elsa Sass’ is terrific. I am encouraged to hear that you grow them in normal garden soil; I had understood them to prefer wet soil and moderate temperatures, neither of which I typically possess (though this year is undoubtedly an exception). Do they naturalize?
Thanks! They seem happy enough in their spot, they’ve multiplied a bit yet don’t seem crowded. Chanticleer gardens outside Philadelphia has masses naturalized in lawn under trees and they seem happy and have been coming back reliably.
What beautiful colours!
Thanks, I can’t imagine ever having too much blue, and yellow always looks good alongside. It just happened btw, I can’t take credit for the combo.
[…] long wanted to try, or the Camassias with which I became enchanted after bittster showed off his photos of them in combination with Iris ‘Elsa Sass.’ It does not matter at all that Camassias are said to like moisture, and that I am unlikely […]