Asphodelus

Family Asphodelaceae. From history: a plant known since ancient times. It was called the king's spear and served as a symbol of the goddess Persephone, a symbol of death and food for the dead. Its roots were used in medicine and for making glue. Even now in some countries crushed tuberous roots are added when producing the so-called asphodel bread. It was mainly cultivated in botanical and formal gardens and parks.

Description: perennial and annual plants with short rhizomes and fleshy tuberous roots, or annuals with a dense tuft of roots. Leaves only basal, linear, grooved, three-angled, with broad membranous sheaths, arranged almost vertically, curved, about 40 cm long. Flower stalks (scapes) with a joint. Flowers in racemes or panicles, white, pink or yellowish, broadly funnel-shaped, with lanceolate, rounded-at-the-ends perianth segments fused at the base into a short tube. Stamens unequal, attached in the perianth tube; staminal filaments broadened at the base; anthers pendulous. Fruit a rounded, three-celled leathery capsule, seeds black, three-angled. After flowering the leaves die back. Occurs from the Mediterranean to India.

A drawback of asphodels can be considered their rather short period of flowering and loss of ornamental value in the second half of summer, but nevertheless these original plants deserve wider use in our gardens. The genus contains 12 species. Of these, one has long been established in cultivation - white asphodel (Asphodelus albus), the others are rarely encountered.

Position: grown in a sunny, warm, sheltered-from-wind spot.

Soil: grows well on moderately fertile, well-drained light loamy soils. When cultivating A. acaulis in a greenhouse a sandy-loam soil with added compost is used. When grown in the open ground a "cushion" of gravel is arranged and the plants are placed in sunny locations.

Care: requires constant attention and care. It is affected by aphids among pests. Perennial species, when grown in regions with harsh climates, must be protected for the winter.

Propagation: by seed, which can be sown either into containers on a cold windowsill in spring or in summer immediately after collection. They give abundant, uniform seedlings, transplanted when the plants reach a height of 6 inches. It is also propagated by division of mature plants in early spring. The short-lived A. fistulosus is renewed annually by sowing seeds.

Uses: for borders and rock gardens.