Plant Camassias This Fall

Before the coming of the white man and the plow, camassias were in countless millions in all the moist meadows and valleys throughout the Far West. Were it not for the plow and grazing, all such spots would be a sea of white or cream or blue or purple in season, but it is natural that the settler would turn first to these rich and moist areas.

Camassias are edible, being slightly more starchy and having more sugar and a similar consistency and flavor as the potato. They constituted a considerable part of the food supply of the Indians.

In Idaho, where the meadows and valleys are surrounded by semi-arid lands, camassias were, in fact, the only food supply of the Indian. When the first white man saw the Indians eating the bulbs, and his plow unearthed countless numbers, he saw only fine food for his hogs. The hogs quickly reduced the supply to near extinction. In retaliation the half-starved Indians killed hogs and man alike, and this brought on the fierce Nezperce Indian War.

My knowledge of the behavior of the camassia in eastern gardens comes from the thousands of successful reports received through 60 years.

As I have said, camassias are natives of moist meadows. The soils are usually heavy, yet some are rids sandy loans. Given ample moisture during the growing season, even to submersion they will do well in any fair soil, but excel in a rich soil – the same soil you would prepare for tulips will suit them perfectly.

Many western bulbous plants are slender and will not stand competition of grass, strong growing plants or ground covers, but the camassia is a sturdy individual which naturalizes easily among grass and other plants and creepers in moist spots and meadows. For bold striking groups in the bulb or perennial border, they are unexcelled. Too, they like some Summer moisture, and they are hardy, so the bulbs may be left in the ground year after year. They seed prolifically and self-seed to increase the colonies wherever the seed can find a lodging.

In habit camassia resembles the Ere-mums to which it. is related. There is a cascade of effective basal leaves, and the stout but slender stems rise to 12 or even to 48″ according to species and conditions. There is a long spike bearing from a few to as many as 300 flowers. The petals are slender and pointed to give a star-like flower 3/4 to 1 1/2″ across, according to the species.

The bulbs vary in size from tiny, in one obscure species, to as large as three inches in diameter. The proper planting depth depends upon the soil. In heavy soils the depth of covering over the tip of bulbs is 1 1/2 times the height of bulb. In light soils it may be a little more.

There are five principal species

Camassia cusicki has very large bulbs often weighing four to eight ounces, and these are marked with a strong unpleasant odor. The leaves, 1 1/2″ broad and blue green may he 20″ long. Stout stems are three to even four feet tall and hear a spike from 30 to 300 one-inch flowers of pale delicate blue. The habit is remote and restricted, and since the death of the discoverer, William Cusick, who collected the bulbs for many years, bulbs have rarely been obtainable during the past twenty years.

Camassia liechtlini is the largest flowered and best of the genus, with stout stems to three-feet tall and a long, many-flowered spike of large flowers. The fading petals twist about the capsule to give a bonbon effect which infallibly identifies the species. There are a number of forms.

The type is white or cream and to me the loveliest, and it is unfortunate that its habitat is the rich Umpqua Valley of Oregon to which the settlers first turned. In the early grain farming areas, the bulbs were unharmed and, at no cost of production. the farmer dug, or permitted to be dug, an ample supply for all gardens. The change to permanent pastures and heavy grazing has nearly exterminated them, and now only rarely does some grower produce a few to put on the market.

In the same region, and north to British Columbia, there is a deep blue or purple form equally as good, but heavy grazing has made it rare.

In southern Oregon there still remain goodly numbers. Here the color varies from lavender-blue to aconite-blue, rarely two alike, yet the group effect is lavender-blue. Bulbs are in fair supply, and it is here from which bulbs are available from dealers.

The southern limit of the species is in Mendocino County, Calif., where there are small but widely scattered colonies of the loveliest of all, a clear sky blue.

Camassia howelli has small bulbs, few leaves and stems less than 18″. The flowers are deep blue. Found only in small colonies in southern Oregon, I fear it has approached extermination too. Collectors have failed for 10 years to find the few bulbs requested by institutions and botanists.

Camassia esculenta and varieties are found from Pennsylvania, west and south to Texas. With stems 12 to 20″ high, it has rather small, pale blue flowers. Usually bulbs offered under this name are of C. quamash, next described.

Camassia quamash varies with the locality, but in most of the Northwest, where it is everywhere, the flowers are pale blue. In one locality in California there is a form that equals the best of catnassias. This is the form you would obtain from any bulb dealer under this name. Leafy attractive basal mass and the stems are 20 to 30″ tall, according to conditions, with a good spike of rather large clear, deep blue flowers.

To summarize, give camassia any good soil, ample moisture and you will be delighted with the resulting bloom. They are planted in the Fall, and I recommend planting rather late to avoid any danger of premature starting in a warm Autumn.

E Purdy

Related Articles Of Interest:

• How To Have Better Spring Bulbs
• Plant Lilies For Spring Flowers
• The Asiatic Lily
• Season for Bulb Planning, Planting