Liriope muscari: location, care & the most beautiful varieties

The Liriope muscari is rather less known in our country. However, with its attractive foliage and showy bloom, this plant will quickly become an eye-catcher in any garden.

Liriope muscari fits well in shadier places in the garden, from which then shine out the intense purple flowers in autumn. We introduce you to the Liriope muscari and give important information on cultivation and care.

Liriope muscari: origin and characteristics

The perennial, wintergreen, sometimes even evergreen Liriope muscari is also known under the names lily turf and border grass. Botanically, it is one of the 6 species of the genus Liriope in the asparagus family (Asparagaceae). The Liriope muscari is native to Asia, where it grows in its wild form in forests, at the edge of forests and on the edges of bushes. This evergreen perennial with clumpy growth reaches a height of up to one meter and is tolerant of various soil conditions, including poor ones.

The leaves of the decorative perennial are bright green and in some varieties bicoloured, reminiscent of an ornamental grass. The lanceolate, narrow and pointed leaves form grass-like clumps of foliage that can turn an attractive yellow colour in the fall. Above this carpet of foliage sway the clusters of purple flowers from August to September. The upright flower clusters, several inches long, consist of small, pearly, purple individual flowers. This late bloomer attracts the attention of various insects and bees. After flowering, the Liriope forms dark blue to black coloured capsule fruits containing the small seeds.

The most beautiful Liriope muscari varieties

The Liriope muscaris offer a wide range of varieties. The differences are mainly in growth habit, leaf colour and flower colour. We present to you the most popular Liriope varieties.

• ‘Big Blue’: This cultivar, which grows up to 40 cm tall, is a classic among Liriope muscaris. It is extremely robust and vigorous. In late summer and fall, it displays a profuse display of blue-purple flowers.

• ‘Gold Banded’: This 30 cm tall Liriope cultivar is characterised by its purple flowers accompanied by gold banded leaves. The special leaf decoration is also an eye-catcher outside the flowering season.

• ‘Moneymaker’: Very robust and vigorous. The variety grows up to 45 cm high and gives us a lush, dark purple flowers between August and October.

• ‘Monroe White’: This white Liriope muscari grows to 40 cm tall and bears its racemose flowers on long stems. The pure white flowers brighten the shadier corners of your garden.

• ‘Royal Purple’:This variety is characterised by its long and dark purple flower clusters. It grows up to 40 cm tall and forms a dense, green carpet of foliage with purple splashes of colour.

Tip: Liriope muscari is rarely encountered, and even more rarely seen are its sister species Liriope spicata – creeping lilyturf – and Liriope graminifolia. Both bloom somewhat more inconspicuously in pinkish-white or pure white. There are also cultivars with white-margined variegated foliage such as Liriope spicata ‘Variegata’. Both species require a permanently fresh, calcareous as well as moderately nutrient-rich soil. They tolerate root pressure from large woody plants so well that they are considered an insider’s tip for difficult-to-green woody plant edges.

Planting Liriope muscari: location and procedure

The Liriope not only beautifies your garden bed, but also attracts all eyes in a pot on the balcony or terrace. Here we have prepared a step by step guide to planting Liriope muscaris for you.

• Location: Liriope muscari thrives best in light shade or partial shade, protected from cold wind and heavy rain. It does well, for example, at the edge of woody plants, next to other perennials, on walls and walls of houses and as an underplanting of hedges.
• Soil: The soil should be well-drained, slightly acidic, low in lime, fresh and preferably humus. Rather poor garden soil may be enhanced with compost and bark mulch or a humus planting soil. For potted plants, a potting soil with a slightly acidic pH and moderate pre-fertilisation can be used, such as our Plantura Organic All Purpose Compost. This soil not only offers your Liriope muscari optimal growing conditions, but is also peat-free and therefore produced in a more climate-friendly way.

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• Planting time: After the last frosts, from April to May, plant the Liriope.
• Procedure: Thoroughly loosen the soil before planting. Then dig a sufficiently large planting hole, so that the roots of the Liriope have a good place in it. Insert the plant and refill the planting hole with soil. Then tap the soil and water the Liriope properly.
• Planting distance:The required distance is at least 25 cm, larger growing varieties need more space. The Liriope muscari works best in small groups of about 3 to 10 plants.
• Potted plants: Here it is important to ensure that no watering or rainwater accumulates, as the Liriope muscari is sensitive to waterlogging. Therefore, use a planter with good water drainage and place a drainage layer of gravel or clay shards at the bottom of the container.

Tip: Liriope muscari can also be sown directly in the open ground from March. A cold stimulus improves germination. As it is a light germinator, the seeds should only be covered very thinly with soil. Finally, do not forget to water the seeds thoroughly and with a fine spray, and do not let the seed site dry out. The Liriope emerges very irregularly, the seeds could also germinate later in the year. Therefore, for the time being, do not dig up or otherwise use the plant pots.

Combining Liriope muscari: Liriope muscari combines beautifully with ferns, such as Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum). Dwarf evergreen shrubs and bushes, as well as smaller bamboo species, also go well with Liriope. Furthermore, suitable planting partners include Western wild ginger (Asarum caudatum), Seersucker sedges (Carex plantaginea), fairy wings (Epimedium), and Saxifraga cortusifolia.

Care

Once you have found the right place for the Liriope muscari, care for it is not very laborious. Only when watering do you need a little experience and instinct.

Watering Liriope muscari

The trick when watering the Liriope is to find the right amount. Because the plant does not like it too dry, nor does it tolerate waterlogging. Especially after planting, it should be watered regularly so that the top layer of soil never dries out completely. Once the plant has established itself in its new location after a few weeks, the watering intervals can be extended so that the substrate surface always dries a little in between. Due to its shallow root system, Liriope muscari is dependent on regular watering during the first 3 years, even in the bed. Potted plants should always be watered so that the entire planting substrate is soaked. Liriope muscari does not tolerate lime, so when watering, low-lime water should be used. For this reason, rainwater is the best choice. This will not only save water resources, but will also be good for your Liriope.

Tip: So that the soil, and thus the Liriope muscari, does not dry out too quickly, a mulch layer of bark mulch can be applied to the exposed areas of soil.

Correct fertilisation

In the bed, Liriope muscari should be supplied with fertiliser every 6 to 8 weeks from the second year during the growing season from April to September. An exception is when the plant is not cut back – then it is enough to fertilise from May or June. A liquid fertiliser such as our Plantura Liquid Flower Food is ideal for this purpose. This organic fertiliser can be easily applied with the irrigation water and ensures lush blooms throughout the season. For potted plants, nutrient availability is limited by the smaller substrate volume, so in this case fertilise once a month. From August, fertilisation should be stopped, so that the Liriope can prepare well for the winter.

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Tip: Note that Liriope muscaris too abundant in nitrogen are more likely to freeze in winter – so the last possible time to fertilise should be taken seriously.

Common diseases

While the Liriope muscari is not very attractive to pests, fungal diseases, such as root rot and bacteria, can give it some trouble. Occasionally anthracnose occurs, a fungus in which the leaves become blotchy and die. Here it helps to cut off the infested plant parts as soon as possible and dispose of them in the household waste.

Pruning Liriope muscari

It is not absolutely necessary to regularly prune the Liriope muscari. If you want, you can cut back the Liriope completely in the spring. But in fact it is enough to remove brown and withered parts of the plant. If the evergreen Liriope muscari is not pruned, it is not a problem at all, because the young shoots quickly overgrow the old, brown ones. In addition, it is then sufficient to fertilise the plant for the first time in May or June.. Under no circumstances should the Liriope muscari be cut back in autumn, because therefore you risk that the plant will not survive the winter.

Tip: For flower care, clean out the faded flowerheads. That is, they should be cut off near the ground, along with the stem.

Liriope not blooming: what should I do?

Is your Liriope not flowering, or is the flowering weak and irregular? This can have a variety of causes. Firstly, it is possible that the location is not optimal for the Liriope muscari. Maybe it is too windy, too wet, too sunny, or the soil is too chalky. Here it helps to transplant the plant to a more suitable location or, if possible, to change the conditions. Another reason for the failure to bloom may be snail feeding. Just before the Liriope muscari blooms, the slimy critters like to sneak unnoticed under the liriope leaves to the tender flower buds and eat them off. You can discover how to successfully combat snails in this article.

Tip: Liriope muscari is still rather new to the garden range. So not everything is known about them yet. Missing or sparse flowers can occur without the exact reason already being known.

Is Liriope muscari hardy?

Liriope muscari is only conditionally hardy in our region and can withstand frosts to – 12 °C at most. Of course, there are differences between the different varieties of Liriope muscari. In addition, the place of planting plays an important role: the more protected the location of the Liriope muscari, the better the chances of successfully overwintering the plant outside. In addition, winter protection in the form of leaves, brushwood or a fleece with which the plant is covered in the fall, helps. If the Liriope muscari is cultivated as a container plant, it can easily be overwintered indoors in a cool, bright and frost-free place. Even during the cold season, the plant should never dry out completely, so it must be watered from time to time.

Is the Liriope muscari poisonous?

Yes, the Liriope muscari is poisonous. Liriope muscari is related to the Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis), and just like them, poisonous in all parts of the plant. Therefore, caution is advised when children play in the garden or pets such as dogs and cats romp around, because even skin contact with the sap of the lily may lead to symptoms of poisoning. For this reason, it is important to be sure to wear gloves when gardening with Liriope muscari and thoroughly clean all tools at the end.

As has already been described, Liriope muscari is very suitable for shady places in your garden. In this article, we also present 10 perennials for the shade, so you can also diversify these corners.