Not a rarity or an especially beautiful plant, though the flowers are really pretty, my bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata) has settled down enough to produce a flower spike. This is an Irish native plant (Báchrán) although it is found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, in North America and Canada, Asia and Europe. The common name comes from the three-parted leaves that look like broad- or faba beans. It is a vigorous, rhizomatous spreader that will grow in water and damp soil and the fringed flowers, pure white from pink buds, are a lovely feature. My plant shares a basket with hippuris and I wish it would get a move on! Most aquatic plants arrive as tiny straggly bits that seem to cost a fortune considering that you will be ripping out masses of the stuff a year later. But my bogbean has been tediously slow so far – let’s hope it finally decides it is time to spread.

You could easily walk past Muscari comosum too. Commonly called the tassel hyacinth, the flowers scapes have rather dull, brown, fertile flowers at the base and brightly coloured sterile flowers at the top, presumably to attract pollinators. ‘Comosum’ means hairy. It flowers later than most grape hyacinths and can be taller too, up to 45cm. But my bulbs are in their first season and are only about 20cm high. It is far less popular than the more congested ‘Plumosum’ where the sterile flowers are exaggerated into a mass of purple filaments. This is a far better garden plant, making more of a statement, but the wild form, from the Med. has a quiet charm of its own and seems to be happy in the raised bed, in full sun.

menyanthes trofoliata, muscari comosum