Description
Asphodeline – Jacob’s Rod
There’s some 20 species of biennials and perennial lilies, in this genus. They occur from sunny rocky meadows and scrub on dry slopes from the Mediterranean and Turkey to the Caucasus. From fleshy or fibrous rhizomes it produces grass to spear like bright green sometime with a bluish tint basal and stem leaves. It bears racemes, of star shaped yellow or white flowers, on stiffly erect stems up to 5’ feet tall.
These frost hardy plants are easily grown in moderately fertile, well-drained, sandy loamy deep soil in full sun. Divide in late summer and early autumn.
Prone to slugs, snails, and aphids.
Asphodeline liburnica – This clump forming perennial from Southeastern Europe and Eastern Mediterranean grows to 3’ feet tall. It produces narrowly triangular blue green leaves to 10” long are held only on the lower part of the flowering stems. In mid summer it bears unbranched racemes to 6-9” long, of pale yellow flowers 2” wide with tepals stripped green with narrowly ovate to lance shaped bracts ½” long.
Zones 6-9
