- origin and distribution
- use
- Appearance, leaves and growth
- flowers and flowering time
- toxicity
- Which location is suitable?
- floor
- Plant star flower correctly
- watering and fertilizing
- Cut star flower correctly
- multiply star flower
- hibernate
- species and varieties
The species Ipheion uniflorum, also known as spring star or spring star flower, is a spring bloomer that is not yet well known in German gardens. However, this should change urgently, because the delicate little flower with the distinctive, star-shaped flowers has a whole range of plus points to offer. Read how you can best establish the single-flowered spring star in the garden.
The beautiful star flower blooms in spring, which is why it is also called the spring star
Table of Contents
Show all- origin and distribution
- use
- Appearance, leaves and growth
- flowers and flowering time
- toxicity
- Which location is suitable?
- floor
- Plant star flower correctly
- watering and fertilizing
- Cut star flower correctly
- multiply star flower
- hibernate
- species and varieties
- Iris Hybrids, Dwarf Iris
- Dwarf Tulip (bot. Tulipa polychroma)
- Hyacinths (bot. Hyacinthus orientalis)
- Small grape hyacinths (bot. Muscari botryoides)
- Golden crocus (bot. Sternbergia lutea)
- Punch a planting hole in the ground using a dipper.
- ideal planting depth depends on the variety
- most varieties should be planted between four and six inches deep
- Planting distance between 10 and 15 centimeters
- up to 100 bulbs can be planted per square meter for a dense carpet
- Fill the planting hole with sand
- Put in onion
- Fill in the soil and press down
- Water the planting site
- 'Album': brilliant white flowers, flowering period between February / March and well into May
- 'Alberto Castillo': particularly large, also bright white flowers
- 'Charlotte Bishop': soft pink flower stars with darker colored midribs
- 'Froyle Mill': bright deep purple flowers
- 'Jessie': intense violet-blue flower stars
- 'Queen Fabiola': violet-blue flower stars, which are arranged with up to 20 individual flowers on an umbel
- 'Lilacinum': light violet flowers
- 'Rolf Fiedler': bright gentian blue, very large flower stars, long flowering period
- 'Whiskey Blue': pretty sky blue flowers
- White Triteleia (bot. Triteleia hyacintina): up to 60 centimeters high flower balls with many white individual flowers, as cut flowers and for rock and steppe gardens
- Yellow Triteleia (bot. Triteleia ixioides): up to 80 centimeters high, umbel-like inflorescences with up to 30 individual yellow flowers
- Blue Triteleia (bot. Triteleia laxa): up to 70 centimeters high, numerous light to dark violet-blue flowers
origin and distribution
Various species are commercially available under the name "Star Flower". This article is about the single-flowered spring star (bot. Ipheion uniflorum or, according to the new scientific classification, Tristagma uniflorum), a bulbous species that belongs to the subfamily of the allium family (bot. Allioideae).
The pretty spring bloomer is native to the temperate climate zones of Uruguay and Argentina, where it is found in large numbers in the grassy steppes of the Andes. There are also larger natural occurrences in France and in the south of Great Britain, since the species became naturalized there a few years ago due to garden forms becoming wild.
use
The star flower is a spring bloomer that cuts a fine figure both in the bed and as a container plant on the balcony or terrace. The species unfolds its special effect especially in combination with other early-blooming and colour-matching flowers and perennials such as:
You can also combine the pretty plants with many other rock garden plants, whereby the white-flowered species in particular come into their own in front of grey-leaved perennials.
Appearance, leaves and growth
The star flower, which grows to a maximum height of 20 centimetres, is a so-called onion flower which, after the early spring shoots, retreats to its underground overwintering organs and rests in good time before the great summer heat. In autumn some leaves appear again, which also overwinter. The fleshy, basal leaves can be up to 25 centimeters long and are very narrow. The slight smell of leeks is characteristic, which reveals the close relationship with leeks, onions and the like.
flowers and flowering time
In contrast to the slightly sharp leaves, the delicate, up to four centimeters in diameter, flower stars exude a delicately sweet scent. The six broad and slightly pointed petals have a light, violet-white color in the wild form. There are also many cultivars with white, violet, blue or pink flowers. Starflowers inspire with an unusually long flowering period for spring flowers: the distinctive flowering stars can be admired from the end of March and into May.
If commercially available star flowers have different flower colors than those specified (e.g. yellow or orange), they may look similar, but they are different species.
toxicity
For some time now, the star flower has also been marketed as "Andean garlic", because the leaves and blossoms, which taste slightly like chives or garlic, can be chopped up and used as a garlic substitute for many dishes and as an edible salad decoration. However, caution is advised, because Ipheion contains a high concentration of the steroid ecdysterone, which is also slightly toxic for humans and pets and which is said to initiate the healing process in insects and crabs. Scientists suspect that the plant wants to protect itself from predators and pests in this way. The species also contains various saponins, which can also cause mild symptoms of poisoning such as nausea, vomiting, headaches or dizziness.
Which location is suitable?
With regard to its location, this is quite undemanding to a barren, mountainous Andean flower. It grows in both sunny and semi-shady places, provided they are protected from the glaring midday sun. Planting them in a spot that gets only morning or afternoon sun is ideal, as this most closely matches their natural environment of grassy mountain slopes. Starflowers thrive particularly well at the edge of or under ornamental shrubs and planted under tall and light trees. However, it should still be bright and sunny here, as the plant does not sprout and bloom in the shade. Furthermore, the bulbs can be distributed in the lawn, so that the green carpet is covered with numerous colorful flowers in spring.
floor
In accordance with their natural location, star flowers also prefer soil in the bed that is neither dry nor wet. A sandy-loamy, well-drained, loose soil rich in minerals and nutrients is ideal. Planting in rock gardens or steppe beds is ideal.
Cactus soil mixed with clay granules is recommended for pot specimens.
Plant star flower correctly
Even if some of the catalog text promises something different: Starflowers are best planted in autumn, otherwise they lose their seasonal rhythm. Place the bulbs in the bed between September and November as follows:
Young plants that have already sprouted (and often already blooming) are also available in spring, which you can either cultivate in pots or plant out straight into the garden bed. The latter, however, have the habit of quickly withdrawing back into the bulb after planting.
watering and fertilizing
In terms of care, the bulb flowers are very easy to cultivate: Starflowers that have been planted out should only be watered after planting and during severe drought during the flowering period. If, on the other hand, the plants have withered and pulled in their leaves before the summer break, they should be kept dry. Additional fertilization is also not necessary.
However, starflowers kept in planters should be watered regularly and supplied with a low dose of container plant fertilizer between April and September. After repotting in fresh, nutrient-rich substrate, however, no fertilization is necessary for eight weeks.
Cut star flower correctly
A pruning is basically also not necessary. If you want to tidy up the bed after the flowering period and cut off the faded stems, it is best to wait until they have completely yellowed and dried up. The onion draws the available nutrients from the flower stalks and stores them for the next shoot. On the other hand, if you remove them too early, a nutrient deficiency can occur and the onion may not sprout again. The same rule also applies to the foliage, which turns yellow in summer.
multiply star flower
Occasionally it is recommended to dig up the mother bulbs every few years, remove the daughter bulbs and replant all together. Basically, however, this procedure is completely unnecessary, since the starflowers reproduce themselves very reliably and can form dense carpets over time. For this to happen, however, the bulb flowers need an optimal location in terms of sunlight and soil, but you have to leave them alone. For a lawn planting, for example, this means that it must not be mowed - because, as already described in the "Cutting" section - the withered stems and leaves should be yellowed and dried out before they are cut back.
hibernate
As typical mountain plants, starflowers are absolutely hardy here too and tolerate temperatures as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius. Therefore, you don't have to dig up the bulbs in autumn (like dahlia bulbs, for example), you can simply leave them in the ground. Only the leaves that appear in autumn need frost protection. For this, however, it is sufficient to cover them with spruce branches.
Specimens cultivated in pots also need winter protection, since the small amount of soil in the planter does not protect against freezing. These plants are best kept in a light and cool but frost-free place during the cold winter months.
tips
In regions with a heavy vole infestation, you should only bury the bulbs with suitable protection, as the pests like to eat them.
species and varieties
The genus Ipheion, to which the star flower belongs, belongs to the order Asparagiaceae and is closely related to allium plants such as garlic, leeks, chives and onions. However, there is currently a lack of clarity regarding the classification of this and other star flower species in the genus Ipheion, which is why a scientific re-sorting is currently being carried out. Ipheion is the old botanical name that is still used by many traders - but sometimes also offered under the new generic name Tristagma. But whether Ipheion or Tristagma - it is in any case the desired star flower, of which the following varieties are particularly pretty in the garden:
Starflowers of the genus Triteleia
Also known as spring stars, these species are easily confused with the star flower described above. In fact, the plants look quite similar, but Triteleien grow significantly larger and flower later. The following species are mainly cultivated in the garden:
Depending on the type and variety, Tritelei bloom between May and June.