Anthericum lilago
St Bernard's lily is a quiet plant that rewards a close look. Anthericum liliago makes a tuft of narrow grey-green leaves, and from it sends up slender stems hung with small white flowers, each one a six-pointed star about 4 cm across with a green stripe on the back of every petal and prominent stamens. Flowering comes in November and December.
Use it in gravel gardens, rockeries, dry sunny borders and naturalistic planting where the airy flower stems can be seen against something plain. It combines well with low grasses and mat-forming perennials, and its narrow footprint means it fits into gaps a wider clump could not. A group of three or five reads better than a single plant.
Full sun and free-draining soil are the essentials, with a position that does not bake completely dry through summer. It resents wet winter ground, so improve heavy clay with grit before planting, or use a raised bed. The roots are thick and fleshy rather than bulbous, and clumps are best left undisturbed for several years before dividing in early spring.
Forms an upright clump 0.45 to 0.9 m tall in flower and 0.3 to 0.5 m across.
Trimming: Cut flower stems down at the base once the last flowers have gone over. Tidy the leaves in late winter by pulling away anything brown, rather than shearing the whole clump, which can take out next season's growth.
Deadheading: Removing spent stems keeps the clump neat and stops seed forming. Leave a few heads if you want it to seed gently into a gravel garden, where self-sown plants are usually welcome.
Fertilising: Very little needed. A light dressing of general fertiliser as growth starts in spring is plenty, and rich feeding produces floppy leaves at the expense of flowers.
Watering: Water through the first summer to settle the fleshy roots. After that, occasional deep watering in prolonged dry weather is enough. Winter waterlogging is the main cause of losses.
Pest Control: Slugs and snails can shred the new leaves in spring, which is the only pest issue worth managing. Clear hiding places nearby and bait or trap in wet weather.
Disease Management: Generally trouble free. Root rot in poorly drained soil is the one thing to guard against, and the fix is drainage rather than any treatment.
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