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Tulbaghia alliacea
Amaryllidaceae FAMILY

Tulbaghia alliacea

Tulbaghia alliacea

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitBulb
Growth—

Tulbaghia alliacea is a plant of the subtropics and tropics. It has some cold-hardyness, tolerating short periods with temperatures down to about -5°c[1]. and can also be cultivated outdoors in warmer parts of the temperate zone. However, it is in leaf during the winter and so is best grown with some protection such as a cold greenhouse or conservatory[1]. Requires a well-drained soil in a sunny sheltered position[1]. The plant often becomes a weed in gardens[2]. Young plants can commence flowering within 1 - 2 years from seed[2]. The flowers are very fragrant at night[1]. Another report says that they have an unpleasant smell[3]. The whole plant has a powerful aroma of garlic[1, 3]. Members of this genus tend to hybridize freely in cultivation or if their wild ranges overlap[2].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the greenhouse[1]. Sow stored seed in early spring in the greenhouse[1]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots once they are large enough to handle and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. If planting them outdoors, this is best done in late summer when the plants are dormant. Division of the dormant plants in late summer. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Tulbaghia+alliacea>

Pollinators

Flies

References

  1. [1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  2. [2]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
  3. [3]Scented Flora of the World. — Genders. R. · Robert Hale. London. · 1994 · ISBN 0-7090-5440-8 ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.
  4. [4]Tropical Flowering Plants. A Guide to Identification and Cultivation. — Llamas K.A. · Timber Press; Oregon. · 2003 · ISBN 0-88192-585-3 ↩︎A terse guide for the gardener to almost 1,500 species of ornamental tropical plants with brief details on their cultivation and, usually, a small photograph of good quality.
  5. [5]The Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs — Manning. J. Goldblatt. P. & Snijman. D. · Timber Press, Oregon. · 2002 · ISBN 0-88192-547-0 ↩︎Excellent treatment of these plants, with good descriptions, habitat etc. Lots of high quality colour photographs.
  6. [6]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  7. [7]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  8. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎