One of the finest late winter bulbs we’ve ever grown is the stunning Nothoscordum sellowianum. This incredible South American bulb, hails from the regions around
Buenos Aires. When we first tried this back in the late 1980s,. we planted it in shade, which it didn’t appreciate. Before it died, we moved our last bulbs to a sunnier location, where it still thrives in our full sun rock garden, growing among cactus and agaves. Many years later, we planted some in a rich, moist compost, where it figuratively exploded. The individual bulbs are tiny, but they mass quickly, forming a 1′ wide patch in 3-4 years. In dry soils, the clump will remain less than 1′ wide for decades. The photo below is our stock block, where bulbs were initially planted on 1′ centers. After a decade, it’s made a solid carpet.
For us, flowering usually begins in late January, and continues until late March. This year, flowering is behind by two weeks, so they are just coming into full flower now. The plants mature at only 2-3″ in height, but because of the sheer number of flowers, the intensely sweet fragrance wafts to 10-20′ away. I know rock gardeners, who get super excited about the late summer flowering genus, Sternbergia, but these amazing plants put Sternbergia to shame. By the end of May, the carpet of tiny well-mown, grass-like foliage has gone dormant for summer. Hardiness is Zone 7a-9b, at least. We’d love to hear from folks who have tried these in colder zones. Where they aren’t winter hardy, they are quite easy as container plants.
