Bellevalia romana

Bellevalia romana, better known as the Roman hyacinth, will delight botany enthusiasts and collectors of rare plants. Protected and becoming rare in its natural habitat due to the disappearance of flood meadows, this bulbous plant, reminiscent of a white wood hyacinth or a small asphodel, is nonetheless charming. Still unavailable in horticultural trade, little is known about its potential behavior in gardens, but its geographic distribution suggests that it tolerates frost and hot, dry summers.

The Roman hyacinth is often found in wet or flood meadows, such as pastures and along streams, up to an altitude of 700 meters (2297 feet). It is a perennial plant with large oval bulbs that belongs to the asparagus family.

Bellevalia romana begins to grow in winter, with the bulb producing 4 to 5 long, narrow, smooth leaves, 5 to 15 mm (0 to 1in) wide and 20 to 50 cm (8 to 20in) long, gathered in a rosette. The floral stem emerges from between the leaves in late March or early April. It remains shorter than the leaves, but the latter often spread out on the ground. The inflorescence is a elongated, somewhat loose conical cluster, with a dark-coloured main stem. It is adorned with small upright star-shaped bell-like flowers, borne on pedicels longer than the corolla. Their colour is greenish-white with a violet base, but pure white at the tip. The stamens are violet. As they wither, the corolla turns brown. The fruit is a triangular capsule containing 2 rounded seeds. By the end of spring, all vegetation dries up. The bulb goes into dormancy, while the soil dries out.

Plant your Bellevalia romana bulbs in a short grass meadow or at the base of a deciduous tree, with snowdrops for example, or in the company of botanical tulips. Adequate moisture, or at least some soil dampness, is necessary from autumn until June.  It also prefers dry summers.