San Marcos Growers LogoSan Marcos Growers
New User
Wholesale Login
Enter Password
Home Products Purchase Gardens About Us Resources Contact Us
Nursery Closure
Search Utilities
Plant Database
Search Plant Name
Detail Search Avanced Search Go Button
Search by size, origins,
details, cultural needs
Website Search Search Website GO button
Search for any word
Site Map
Retail Locator
Plant Listings

PLANT TYPE
PLANT GEOGRAPHY
PLANT INDEX
ALL PLANT LIST
PLANT IMAGE INDEX
PLANT INTROS
SPECIALTY CROPS
NEW  2026 PLANTS

LIVE AVAILABILITY
  for APRIL


Natives at San Marcos Growers
Succulents at San Marcos Growers
 Weather Station

 
Products > Tulbaghia 'Fairy Star'
 
Tulbaghia 'Fairy Star' - Fairy Star Society Garlic

Note: This plant is no longer in stock. This is an archive page preserved for informational use.  
Image of Tulbaghia 'Fairy Star'
 
Habit and Cultural Information
Category: Perennial
Family: Alliaceae (~Amaryllidaceae)
Origin: South Africa (Africa)
Flower Color: Mauve
Bloomtime: Spring/Summer
Fragrant Flowers: Yes
Parentage: (T. comminsii x T. violacea)
Height: <1 foot
Width: <1 foot
Exposure: Full Sun
Seaside: Yes
Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs
Winter Hardiness: 20-25° F
Tulbaghia 'Fairy Star' (Fairy Star Society Garlic) - A small clumping evergreen perennial to 12 to 14 inches tall in flower with tuberous roots from which emerge flexible narrow 6 to 8 inches long light green grass-like leaves. In spring through late summer arise the foot 12- to 14-inch-tall stalks holding umbels of mauve pink trumpet-shaped flowers that emit a pleasant light clove fragrance that is particularly strong in the evening.

Plant in full sun to light shade in a well-drained soil with occasional to regular irrigation - somewhat drought tolerant as is drought deciduous when not irrigated in summer months but will flower longer and remain in foliage with more regular irrigation. It can be winter deciduous as well so cold hardy y to temperatures to 20°F or below. This cultivar is noted as having a good tolerance to near seashore conditions. This very attractive smaller hybrid Tulbaghia has flowers that dance in a breeze and is great for using in small container, edging a pathway, in a rock garden, at the front of a meadow planting, in a crevice or wall planting and, with its fragrant flowers, attracts butterflies and bees.

Tulbaghia 'Fairy Star' is a cross between Tulbaghia cominsii, a petite bulb forming species with thin grassy leaves and the durable Society Garlic, Tulbaghia violacea. It was a selection made from plants growing at Cotswold Garden Flowers in Evesham in the UK by one of nurseryman Bob Brown’s family members.

The genus was named to honor Ryk Tulbagh (1699-1771) the early governor of the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. We also grow many Tulbaghia violacea cultivars including Tulbaghia violacea 'Edinburgh', Tulbaghia violacea 'Blanca', Tulbaghia violacea Purpleicious ['Hinetul1'], Tulbaghia violacea 'Oro Verde', Tulbaghia violacea 'Emerisa White', Tulbaghia violacea 'Savannah Lightning' and Tulbaghia violacea 'Blanca' as well as Tulbaghia simmleri (AKA T. fragrans), Tulbaghia simmleri 'Alba' and the hybrids Tulbaghia 'Ashanti', Tulbaghia 'Flamingo', Tulbaghia 'Himba' vand Tulbaghia 'Cosmic'

Information displayed on this page about Tulbaghia 'Fairy Star' is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.

 
San Marcos Growers closed for regular business at the end of 2025 as the property is being developed for affordable housing.
While our gates remain closed, we will open them by appointment so we can liquidate remaining plants, supplies and equipment. The plants remaining in the field are listed on our Live Inventory Page.
 
  [MORE INFO]