O. umbellatum has a large Eurasian distribution and is in truth a local of the east of England, although this thus far stays my sole encounter with the species outdoors of a backyard context. What struck me most was each its behavior and habitat: its flowers held in an attractively free and casual clutch; its most popular atmosphere being matted grass.
It’s a bulb due to this fact splendid for naturalising, whether or not drifted via a patch of lengthy grass or in a sunny to semi-shaded border. I’ve since learn that each William Robinson – the Victorian grandfather of naturalistic planting – and the late flower backyard guru Christopher Lloyd have been united of their appreciation of this bulb as an enhancer of grassy meadows, the place, tolerant of each damp and dry, it’s, as Lloyd famous, “well-behaved and radiant”.
With no appropriate spot for naturalising on the museum – alas, now we have no grass! – my Stars of Bethlehem are destined for pots, apart from final 12 months’s O. ponticum, which, so late flowering, I’ve transferred to a combined border, the place its fading white is likely to be succeeded by that of herbaceous geraniums.
For the potting combine itself, I discover the profitable components is a base layer of bark chippings, which helps retain moisture and reduces watering-can utilization. That is adopted by an abnormal multipurpose, peat-free potting compost with horticultural grit combined in at a free ratio of 1:3 for drainage: into this, the bulbs are planted a great 15cm (6in) deep (20cm, or 8in, for bigger species like O. arabicum).
To complete, I add a great 3-5cm (about 2in) topping of grit, once more to retain moisture, but additionally for adornment. So a lasagne of soil mediums, however nicely definitely worth the effort – the combination of grit will vastly diminish the probabilities of bulbs rotting. As soon as they’re in flower, I feed with natural liquid seaweed to revive power to the crops for subsequent 12 months, and permit the foliage to die again naturally.
5 ornithogalums to plant now
Milk star
Ornithogalum ponticum ‘Sochi’
