Plant Finder
Alberto Castillo Spring Starflower
Ipheion 'Alberto Castillo'
Plant Height: 3 inches
Flower Height: 6 inches
Spacing: 4 inches
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: 4b
Other Names: syn. Triteleia x uniflorum
Description:
Beautiful white, star shaped flowers with thin green stripes, are sweetly fragrant in early to mid-spring; grass-like foliage smells like garlic when crushed; a pest resistant variety, great for edging, containers and beds
Ornamental Features
Alberto Castillo Spring Starflower is bathed in stunning fragrant white star-shaped flowers with light green stripes at the ends of the stems from mid to late spring. Its fragrant grassy leaves remain emerald green in color throughout the season.
Landscape Attributes
Alberto Castillo Spring Starflower is an herbaceous perennial with a ground-hugging 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 usually looks its best without pruning, although it will tolerate pruning. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Alberto Castillo Spring Starflower is recommended for the following landscape applications;
- Mass Planting
- Rock/Alpine Gardens
- Border Edging
- General Garden Use
- Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
- Container Planting
Planting & Growing
Alberto Castillo Spring Starflower will grow to be only 3 inches tall at maturity extending to 6 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 6 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 4 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a fast 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 moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by multiplication of the underground bulbs; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.
Alberto Castillo Spring Starflower is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.