In a group of plants that isn’t well known, Ornithogalum magnum is a stand-out that really shines. It is also deer and rodent resistant.
Ornithogalum nutans (Drooping Star-of-Bethlehem) is a species I discovered in 2010. Growing 12 to 18 inches high, it has small, nodding flowers, 3 to 12 on a stem. The catalog description says that the flowers are white inside and green outside with a white margin but mine are the same inside and out – white with a green mid-vein. This bulb supposedly produces offsets freely, but I have yet to see it increasing; I keep hoping because it is lovely.
a basal clump in spring but begin to disappear shortly before the flowers bloom. I have interplanted mine with Lupinus perennis in my upper garden. Sadly, this species has become very hard to find but it’s worth the effort.
I have grown the three species that are hardy in northeast Ohio. My favorite is Ornithogalum magnum (Giant Star Flower) because it is so striking and because it has definitely naturalized. Although it is listed in catalogs as growing 1 to 2 feet high, mine are 3 feet high and make a vertical statement in the garden. Numerous, tiny, star-like flowers bloom in huge pyramidal upright racemes. Flowers in each raceme open from bottom to top. Linear, grass-like leaves emerge in
Bobbie Schwartz, FAPLD, owner of Bobbie’s Green Thumb in Shaker Hts., Ohio,
All three species bloom in May and June and are left alone by deer and rabbits.
is a landscape designer, consultant, freelance writer, and lecturer whose specialties are perennial gardens and four season landscapes. In addition to being an Ohio Landscape Association (OLA) member, she is an active member of the Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association (ONLA) and Perennial Plant Association (PPA). Bobbie is a Past President of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD). Bobbie’s new book, Garden Renovation: Transform Your Yard into the Garden of Your Dreams, will be published in November 2017 by Timber Press.
The Growing Concern | October 2017 | 13