Society garlic is a clump-forming perennial bulb from southern Africa, grown for its narrow garlic-scented leaves and violet flowers from midsummer to autumn. It needs full sun, free-draining soil, and protection from hard frost.
Family
Amaryllidaceae (Daffodil & onion family)
Grows as
Bulb, Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly in growing season and let the top of the soil dry between waterings; reduce in winter.
Soil
Well-drained, fertile soil or a standard potting mix with added grit.
Temperature
15–30 °C; protect below about -5 °C, as it needs some frost protection outdoors in cold climates.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic
Native range
Cape Prov. to KwaZulu-Natal
Climate
subtropical
About
Tulbaghia violacea, commonly known as society garlic, pink agapanthus, wild garlic, sweet garlic, spring bulbs, or spring flowers, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae. It is indigenous to southern Africa (KwaZulu-Natal and Cape Province), and reportedly naturalized in Tanzania and Mexico.
Growing to 60 cm (24 in) tall by 25 cm (10 in) wide, it is a clump-forming perennial with narrow leaves and large clusters of fragrant, violet flowers from midsummer to autumn (fall).
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Tulbaghia violacea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.