Asphodelus acaulis
Jane McGary (Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:44:19 PST)
Jim McKenney wrote
One of my gardening friends acquired a plant of Asphodelus acaulis
from Jane McGary; it grew well in its new home, and it eventually
appeared at the plant exchange of our local NARGS chapter. That's
when I acquired my start. ...Jane mentions in the wiki account that
the crowns sometimes die after flowering. My plant has only a
single crown. I'll be devastated if it dies.
I think the secondary crowns aren't necessarily apparent above ground
when the big central crown is flowering. I have two big plants in
flower here now, and I expect I'll find two or three new crowns have
formed to the sides of each when I lift them this summer to get them
out of the mesh basket in which I transferred them from the old bulb
frames to the new bulb house. The storage root system is similar to
that of Dahlia. Other Asphodelus are similar (though bigger).
The color is what is called, in regard to fabrics anyway, as "peach
pink," though I've never understood that as peaches are much yellower
(if they're not white peaches). A good-sized inflorescence can have
as many as 20 individual blossoms, clustered close to the ground.
I got this plant as a single crown from Monocot Nursery in the
mid-1990s. Mine haven't ever set viable seed but I will try to
hand-pollinate it this year. Possibly I won't succeed, as I have just
the one clone.
Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA