Description:

A bulb-like plant with a corm that produces upright, sword shaped leaves in mid-winter; blue to violet cup shaped flowers appear on short spikes in spring, then the flowers and foliage die back for the summer; great for spring color, massed in the garden

Ornamental Features

Baboon Flower has spikes of violet cup-shaped flowers with blue overtones rising above the foliage from early to late spring. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its tomentose sword-like leaves remain green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Baboon Flower is an herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and may require the occasional pruning to look its best. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Baboon Flower is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• General Garden Use
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Baboon Flower will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 18 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 5 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen! As this plant tends to go dormant in summer, it is best interplanted with late-season bloomers to hide the dying foliage.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to dry locations, and dislikes excessive moisture. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in clay soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is not originally from North America. It can be propagated by multiplication of the underground bulbs.

Baboon Flower is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.