Sternbergia lutea (winter daffodil, "Kibanatamasudare")

Japanese name: キバナタマスダレ （黄花玉簾）
Scientific name: Sternbergia lutea

[Overview]
A perennial 10–25 cm tall.
It has a bulb 3–5 cm across.
The leaves are simple and basal, linear, 20–25 cm long and about 0.7 cm wide.
The leaves and buds appear above ground at the same time, and the flowers open in about a week.
The flowers are borne singly at the tips of flower stalks 10–25 cm tall; they are yellow, about 4 cm long, funnel-shaped, with 6 petals.
Each bulb produces 7–8 flowers.
The fruit is a berry.
The leaves die back before summer, and the plant is dormant in summer.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by dividing bulbs or from seed.
Plants grown from seed take several years to flower.
Plant about 4–5 bulbs in a size 5 pot; if planting is late, rooting is poor and the flowers and leaves grow poorly, so take care.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained site and is grown in fertile soil.
It dislikes excess moisture, so improve poorly drained soil.
Add organic matter such as leaf mold, and it is also good to mix in pumice or perlite.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries during the growing season; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
In addition to base fertilizer, give liquid fertilizer from after flowering until the leaves begin to die back.
When the leaves have died back, dig up and store the bulbs, or, if the site is well drained, leave them planted as they are.
For potted plants, move them during summer dormancy to a well-ventilated place out of the rain.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

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