How to grow camassia
Camassia are hardy bulbous perennials, best grown in moist, fertile soil. Their elegant and graceful beauty is perfect for a whole range of garden planting schemes
There is no finer sight than a swathe of Camassia in full bloom, especially when they’ve been left to naturalise in grass or a mixed border. Their sturdy racemes are packed with six-petalled starry blooms in a rich palette of blues or creamy-white, sometimes with
Flowers for free
Camassia bulbs bulk up vegetatively underground. You can propagate them either by removing the baby bulblets from their parent bulb and then potting them on into moisture-retentive, multipurpose compost, or by lifting and splitting established clumps between July and August when they are dormant. Replant immediately after dividing and water well.
Alternatively, you can collect and sow harvested seeds immediately for flowers in two to three years’ time. Plants propagated from seed are unlikely to be a true match to their parent plant.
Looking after your flowers
Camassia are easy to grow as long as they have enough of the moisture they crave. Their flowering capacity may slow if they don’t have reliably moist soil, or the clump is too congested and needs splitting. Beware slugs and snails too.
Remove faded flower stems (collecting seed, if desired) but leave the foliage to die back to feed the bulb for next season, just as you would with any bulbous perennial.
If Camassia are being left to naturalise in grass, mow as late as possible.
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