Yellow Sternbergia

Family Amaryllidaceae. Native to Eastern Transcaucasia and the Mediterranean. In the wild it grows on dry slopes.

One of the latest-blooming drought-tolerant bulbous plants. Blooms abundantly in early October - mid-November. Up to 13 lemon-yellow flowers develop on a single plant with a faint delicate fragrance, each of which lasts 5-6 days. Leaves are dark green, firm, very glossy; they appear late, during the mass flowering period. By mid-January Sternbergia reaches 15 cm in height and in dense plantings forms a beautiful bright green carpet that retains its decorative appearance until April. Bulbs are broadly rounded, 4 cm in height and 3 cm in width, producing a large number of daughter bulbs. Sternbergia does not set seed in cultivation and propagates only by offsets, which are planted in the ground in September. Under conditions of the Apsheron Peninsula it can grow without irrigation, and its care consists of weeding and loosening the soil. In cultivation since 1565.