Spring starflower
Ipheion uniflorum · Amaryllidaceae
Pale blue or white, star-shaped flowers, each on its own stem, over grassy leaves that smell of onion when crushed. It flowers for many weeks in spring.
- Size
- 6 in tall, 4 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Early April to early May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Bulb layer
A bed built around spring starflower
The planner designed this bed around spring starflower when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why spring starflower stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Cottage pinks × 9, pink
- 2 Sedum 'Lidakense' × 13, pink
- 3 Anise hyssop × 5, lavender
- 4 False sunflower 'Summer Nights' × 3, yellow
- 5 Blue oat grass × 1, tan
- 6 English lavender 'Hidcote' × 3, purple
- 7 Spring starflower × 12, blue
- 8 Schubert's allium × 3, pink
Why this plant
- The only blue.
Why here
- Near the front. At 6 in it stands ahead of anise hyssop (3 ft) without hiding it.
- 12 plants in 2 handfuls. In the gaps between other plants, which fill the space when the bulb is not in growth.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From early April to early May.
- Opens the season. In all that time nothing else on the plan is in flower.
- Leaves gone by midsummer. They die back and leave bare ground. A perennial that comes up late stands beside it, and grows over the gap.
Planned as a cottage garden: 34 of the 34 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 51 to 49, left to right. Pink runs through the planting: 3 of the 8 kinds grown for their flowers have it.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where spring starflower goes in a border
At 6 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: bulb layer. Small bulbs planted in handfuls of five or seven in the gaps between other plants, for colour before the perennials wake up.
It flowers for longer than almost any other spring bulb, and multiplies into a dense edging. The leaves appear in autumn and die away in early summer.
- A long-flowering carpet in spring
- Edging paths
- Naturalising under deciduous shrubs
What to plant with spring starflower
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Daffodil: blue against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for five weeks; tall enough (16 in) to stand behind it.
- Tulip: blue against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for three weeks; tall enough (18 in) to stand behind it.
- Creeping phlox: in flower together for four weeks, from mid April.
Questions about spring starflower
Does spring starflower need sun or shade?
Spring starflower grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does spring starflower grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 9. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does spring starflower flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early April to early May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 5 | Early April to early May |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Late March to early May |
| Zone 7 | Late March to late April |
| Zone 8 | Mid March to mid April |
| Zone 9 | Early March to mid April |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should spring starflower be planted?
3 in (8 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 4 in (10 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 6 in (15 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many spring starflower plants do I need?
At 3 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 168 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 39 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 536 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as handfuls of five or seven, in the gaps between other plants.
In the bed above, the planner used 12 in two groups.
Is spring starflower poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat spring starflower?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
Will spring starflower spread?
It seeds itself about; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Multiplies by offsets and seed and spreads through a bed over time. It is easy to lift where it is not wanted.
What can I plant to hide spring starflower's leaves after it flowers?
A bulb's leaves have to be left to yellow for about six weeks after flowering, to feed next year's flowers. Plant it among perennials that come up late and spread wide, and they grow over the leaves as they fade:
- Lady's mantle: 18 in tall and 24 in wide, in flower late May to early July.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': 24 in tall and 2½ ft wide, in flower mid May to mid September.
- Garden chrysanthemum: 24 in tall and 24 in wide, in flower mid September to late October.
What does spring starflower look like in winter?
Spring starflower is underground: it dies back after flowering and waits as a bulb until spring. Mark where it is, so a fork does not find it first.
Is spring starflower good for bees and butterflies?
Spring starflower is visited by bees.
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Bulb
- Size
- 6 in (15 cm) tall, 4 in (10 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3 in (8 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Early April to early May; blue, white
- Leaves
- Fine texture, summer-dormant; green
- Shape
- Mounding, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae
- Comes from
- Argentina and Uruguay
- Attracts
- Bees
- Stands up to
- Drought
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.