White flowering bulb taking over

by Sue Petersen
(Muskegon, Michigan)

I have way too many of these small bulbs. They start out looking like muscari, but before it flowers, the foliage begins to wither. The daisylike flower is white with a green stripe on the outside of each of it's 6 petals, approx. 1" across on a 6" stem. When the foliage withers, the flower blooms. After the flower blooms, it dies and with the foliage gone, it's as if they were never there. The bulbs look like muscari except they seem to bend a bit at the top of the bulb. If it's a weed, I will destroy the bulbs. If it is desirable somewhere I will offer them to the first taker.

Doug says it sounds as if you have Ornithogalum - the small white flower and spreading nature make it a real weedy plant. I happen to like it even though it's a weed- and I do dig it up when it gets to areas I don't like. But it's one of the weediest darn bulbs in the garden. The pic on this page isn't great (it's another species) but the data is what you're looking for. Click here for more info