Ornithogalum balansae

Circa 1884, this miniature heirloom yields slender stems adorned with up to five star-shaped white flowers with faint green stripes, tiny glowing green centers and yellow anthers, and somewhat sparse linear foliage. As it matures over time, when it’s extremely happy where it’s planted, it can naturalize by both bulb offsets (called bulbils: baby bulbs on the sides of the mother bulb you’ve planted) and, occasionally, self-sowing seed. Since it’s not tremendously hardy, you may want to apply no more than a 2" layer of mulch after the surface of the ground freezes to protect it from winter temperature spiking in the event of inconsistent snow coverage. You’ll need about nine bulbs per square foot. (Square footage is determined multiplying the planting site’s length times its width.) Bulb size: 5 cm/up. Full to partial sunlight. Bloom time in horticultural zone 5: March/April. Plant 4" to 6" deep and 4" to 6" apart. HZ: 5-8. Height: 5".

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