Asphodelus acauils
Jane McGary (Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:00:11 PST)

Jim mentioned his Asphodelus acaulis, apparently an offset of a plant I
sent to someone else in his area. I don't think I had enough seed of this
plant to donate to an exchange until 2007. This is a very pretty
winter-flowering plant from Morocco, producing peach-pink flowers on very
short stems and with a lax basal rosette of leaves. It makes slowly
increasing crowns, and the one that blooms seems to die afterward. I grow
it in a frame that is dry in summer, in a large mesh basket. It is not a
bulb but rather a growing point with a number of storage roots, similar to
a small Eremurus.

There are a number of species of Asphodelus around the Mediterranean, where
they are often the dominant flowering herbs in the landscape because they
are not eaten by goats. I also grow A. albus in a border and have young
plants of a couple of other species. The large species have lush foliage
that withers by midsummer, and they are easily divided when dormant.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA
still snowed in