Large Camas is a spring-flowering bulb native to the moist meadows and slopes stretching from British Columbia to southern California. This perennial powerhouse produces towering stems reaching 36 to 48 inches tall, crowned with dense racemes of star-shaped flowers that open sequentially from bottom to top, creating weeks of interest from April through May. Hardy in zones 5 through 9, it tolerates everything from clay to wet soil, making it as adaptable as it is stunning. The flowers are excellent for cutting, and the plant thrives in full sun to partial shade with moderate water once established.
Partial Sun
Moderate
5-9
48in H x 24in W
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High
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Camassia leichtlinii produces extraordinary flower spikes with 20 to 80 star-shaped flowers per raceme, opening in succession over several weeks rather than all at once. The tall, naked stems rise cleanly above a 2-foot clump of linear, strap-shaped foliage, creating an architectural presence in the spring garden. Strong stems naturally support the flower weight without staking, and the plants ask for almost nothing once they're settled in, returning year after year with minimal fuss.
Large Camas excels in rain gardens and other landscape settings where seasonal moisture fluctuates. Its showy flower spikes are excellent for cutting, bringing the architectural drama of the spring meadow indoors. In the garden, it serves as a bold focal point during April and May bloom, best left to naturalize in drifts where it can establish undisturbed colonies over time.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Plant bulbs directly in fall at a depth of 4 to 6 inches, spaced 6 inches apart. Large Camas can be grown from seed, though seedlings will not bloom until the 3rd or 4th year.
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“Large Camas carries the legacy of wild mountain meadows in the Pacific Northwest, where it evolved in the moist conditions west of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada mountains. Indigenous peoples and early settlers valued these bulbs for their nutritious corms, though today gardeners cultivate them primarily for their remarkable spring display. The species name honors Dieter Leichtlin, a 19th-century German botanist and horticulturist who championed bulb cultivation and distribution, bringing plants from around the world into European gardens and nurseries.”