Sisyrinchium striatum JOY!
I clapped eyes on my first Sisyrinchium in spring 2016 and it was love at first site.
I was like a magpie bedazzled by a shiny object. I was transfixed by the clusters of small, intricate baby-yellow flowers.
Sisyrinchium is a large genus of clump-forming plants with narrow sword-shaped leaves and erect stems carrying solitary or clustered, star-shaped or bell-shaped flowers in spring or summer. That’s the summary botanical descriptor as I know it now. THEN, when I first saw a member of the group, I had NO IDEA what I was looking at. No idea what it was called. And I wanted it.
It was a weekend, and there was a bed of them in the communal grounds of a residential development that I visited. The gardeners were nowhere about. I love plants but I am not a plant thief, so taking a ‘sample’, even with the resident’s ‘permission’, was out of the question. I did, however, task her to ask the gardeners what the plant was called so I could buy it.
I took pictures of the plant (sunny but hazy day, phone camera not brilliant) and made a mental note of it’s key features (how could I forget? Couldn’t afford to risk it, though).
I trawled the internet for days with no joy. Neither the warden nor the gardeners knew the plant’s name. What to do?
I changed my search terms a few more times, and Voila! there is was - Sisyrinchium striatum. Sisyrinchium striatum! I ordered it from an online retailer right away. It’s not the sort of plant you readily find in bog standard DIY/Garden Centre retail chains - at least not then.
That one Sisyrinchium striatum plant has been propagated a few times and I have several large clumps of it in different locations on my plots (insurance policy!).
My first Sisyrinchium striatum, 2016
Green leaves, pale yellow flowers. This was the first showing from my first plant, while still in its pot.
Here are some more pictures of my Sisyrinchium striatum plants on my plots this 2020, in bloom right now! In that bed, there is a small clump of the variegated-leaf variety named ‘Aunt May’ (if you please!) at the extreme right hand side of the third picture in the carousel below. In my hands, it doesn’t seem to be as vigorous as the species. Also growing in the bed is polemonium, strawberries, and the beautiful, delicate-looking, apricot-pink-orange Rosa ‘Lark Ascending’ also live. I added brassica and purple french bean seedlings this week (after I took the pictures)!! I will take pictures soon.
Here’s some footage:
