Native Leek

Native Leek (Bulbine bulbosa) is a small Australian native perennial that sends up slender stems of bright yellow star shaped flowers above soft grassy foliage. It reaches only about 40cm tall and 30cm wide, so it fits a border, a rockery pocket or a pot without crowding its neighbours. It is frost hardy, drought tolerant and untroubled by poor soil, which makes it one of the easier natives to keep going.

Why you'll love it

• Yellow flowers in the cool months. Loose spikes of yellow open through late winter and spring, when most small perennials are still asleep.
• Small enough for anywhere. At 40cm by 30cm it edges a path, fills a rockery gap or sits in a balcony pot.
• Genuinely tough. Frost hardy, drought tolerant and happy in thin, poor soil, so it survives the parts of the garden that defeat other plants.
• Food for bees and butterflies. The open flowers are easy for small pollinators to work, which matters in a native planting.
• A traditional bush food. The underground corm was eaten cooked by Aboriginal people across south eastern Australia.

Where it works best

Borders and mass planting. Plant 30cm apart for a continuous drift. At that spacing the clumps knit together and read as one yellow band in spring rather than a row of dots.

Rockeries and dry banks. It suits the sharp drainage and reflected heat of a rock garden, and asks for no summer watering once settled.

Pots and small gardens. Three plants to a 300mm pot gives a full display, and the compact size keeps it useful in courtyards.

Growing Native Leek in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun brings the best flowering. It is at home in warm temperate, cool temperate and Mediterranean gardens, and being frost hardy it handles cold southern and tableland winters without protection.

Soil. Drainage matters far more than fertility. Sandy, gravelly and thin soils are ideal; on heavy clay, raise the bed or add coarse grit so water moves away from the corm.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first season, then leave it to the weather. A light dressing of low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring is all the feeding it wants.

Dormancy and tidying. Cut spent flower stems at the base. It dies back over summer and returns in autumn, so do not water a dormant clump.

What to expect when it arrives

Native Leek is sold as tube stock and in 140mm pots in packs of ten. Tubes are young plants with a few grassy leaves and a corm already forming, and they are the sensible choice for a drift. The 140mm plants are a season further along and flower sooner.

Foliage may look creased on arrival and will straighten within a week. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the full Australian native range
• Native plants with yellow flowers
• Ideas for low growing border plants
• See other edible and bush food plants

Common questions

Why has my plant disappeared over summer?

That is normal. Native Leek is summer dormant, dying back to the corm and reshooting in autumn. Mark the spot so you do not dig it up.

How many do I need for a border?

Space plants 30cm apart, which is about three per metre in a single row. A pack of ten therefore covers roughly three metres of edging.

Will it survive frost?

Yes. It is frost hardy and grows naturally through cold districts of south eastern Australia, so tableland and southern gardens suit it well.

Is it really edible?

The corm has a long record as a cooked bush food, but we sell this plant as an ornamental native, not a food crop. Never eat any plant unless you are certain of the identification and preparation.