Gentian Blue

Another reminder of the mountains through the colour of this easily grown (and cheaply available) bulbous plant. I bought it as Brodiaea 'Queen Fabiola' many years ago. It is planted around Brodiaea californica which towers over it and is still in bud. As the flowers go over they partially close up, enclosing the developing seed pod, as the flower on the left has already done.

Wiki tells us: Triteleia laxa (previously Brodiaea laxa) is a triplet lily known by several common names, including Ithuriel's spear and grassnut. It is native to California where it is a common wildflower, and it is occasionally found in Oregon. It bears a tall, naked stem topped with a spray of smaller stalks, each ending in a purple or blue flower. The flower is tubular, opening into a sharply six-pointed star. The plant grows from a corm which is edible and similar in taste and use as the potato. The most used common name for the species, Ithuriel's spear, is a reference to the angel Ithuriel from Milton's Paradise Lost.