Published on May. 7, 2025, 7:37 PM
Updated on Mar. 18, 2026, 5:30 PM
The flowers are beautiful but spread quickly, displacing native plants.
Every day, we’re waking up to more signs of spring: Robins flying about, scarlet elf caps dotting forest floors, and steadily increasing daylight.
Another thing you may notice in the weeks to come, especially if you live in southern Ontario, are carpets of striking blue bell-shaped flowers popping up in the grass. These tiny plants, known as Scilla siberica, Siberian squill, or spring beauty, are among the first flowers to bloom each spring. Sometimes, they’ll even start pushing through frozen ground.
Like Japanese knotweed — another invasive plant species to be on the lookout for — siberian squill starts growing in late March or early April, with its grass-like leaves showing up first, followed by bright blue flowers that will bloom for 2-3 weeks.
Individual flowers are small, about 10 cm high, but bloom in big numbers, with each bulb producing several stems that carpet lawns and surround tree bases.
According to iNaturalist, sightings of the flower are already starting to pop up stateside and in Europe, with 426 recorded observations in March. That’s up from 75 reports in February.
There have been sightings on Vancouver Island, and New York State, which borders Ontario, has also reported the flower.
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