Bulbine frutescens: One Tough Beauty

(From the November/December 2011 issue of The American Gardener)

Like most home gardeners, I have those “problem” areas—spaces with poor soil or root competition from large, shallow-rooted trees where little seems to grow. If you reside within USDA Hardiness Zones 9 to 11 and AHS Heat Zones 11 to 8 and share my pain, Bulbine frutescens, a succulent, evergreen groundcover native to South Africa, could provide a pleasing solution for those challenging spots.

‘Hallmark’ is a compact cultivar of Bulbine frutescens
with orange-yellow flowers.

Inside and out, bulbine (pronounced bul-BINE-ee) is a plant of many virtues. So let’s start with its good looks. The matte green leaves are linear and fleshy, like chives. A fast grower that reaches a height and spread of one to two feet, bulbine has an upright, clumping habit and spreads by underground stems or rhizomes. (Despite its name, it is not a bulbous plant.) Reed-thin, leafless stalks rise above the foliage and culminate in spikes of star-shaped, lemon-yellow flowers with fuzzy stamens—that’s for the straight species. The cultivar ‘Hallmark’, however, is more compact and boasts orange buds and flowers that open to reveal bright yellow, fuzzy stamens. Whichever color you choose, bulbines offer year-round interest in Mediterranean climates. Their flowers, which bloom from spring through fall, also attract butterflies.

Put to the test

My love affair with bulbine began with a small cutting from a neighbor five years ago. I literally jammed it into the soil of the parking strip in front of my home and gave it an occasional splash of water. Within weeks, the cutting took hold. After only a few months, I, as well as passersby, enjoyed lush green clumps bursting with blooms that danced in the breeze. This initial success inspired further experimentation—in a planter box, on sloped borders to control erosion, and as a simple, fast-growing filler that morphed eyesores into eye candy. Bulbine delivered on all fronts.

The biggest challenge I put this plant through was as a groundcover underneath three 80-foot-tall coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) in my backyard. Bulbines prefer well-drained, loamy, normal to alkaline soil, though they also grow admirably in poor, dry soil. The redwoods stood in heavy, acidic clay soil, where I’d tried (and failed) to establish other shrubs and groundcovers. So last fall, I took divisions of the bulbine from my parking strip and planted them in the redwood grove, leaving about six inches between each cutting. The rains came, the rhizomes took hold, and by the following April, voila!—a patch of deep-green foliage and fuzzy wisps of yellow filled most of the area.

Lovely yet low maintenance

Once established, bulbine tolerates drought and is ideal for rock gardens, but it would be equally at ease in a tropical garden. Although plants can live on little water, they look and flower better with occasional irrigation during very dry or hot conditions. Otherwise, they need little care. Simply remove spent flower stalks to encourage new blossoms. When you’re ready to share the love, thin plantings by dividing the clumps in spring and handing them out at your next plant swap.