Rhodoxis Hebron Farm Rose

x Rhodoxis 'Hebron Farm Rose' is a small bulbous perennial related to Rhodohypoxis, prized for its soft pink star-shaped flowers. It forms tight, small cushions covered with a multitude of flowers from spring to summer. This not very hardy plant requires well-drained soil and a dry period in winter. Well-suited to rockeries, alpine troughs, pots and kusamono displays, it offers a delicate and colourful flowering for a very small space.

x Rhodoxis 'Hebron Farm Rose' belongs to the Hypoxidaceae family and the hybrid genus Rhodoxis, resulting from cross-breeding between Rhodohypoxis (red or pink stars) and Hypoxis (yellow stars), both native to the high-altitude regions of eastern South Africa. These are small, broadly speaking "bulbous" plants, actually possessing fleshy rhizomes or small corms, adapted to hot, humid summers and cold but dry winters. In catalogues, this variety is also offered under the names Rhodohypoxis 'Hebron Farm Rose' or × Rhodoxis hybrida 'Hebron Farm Rose', with a botanical status still under discussion.
This variety is part of the × Rhodoxis "Hebron Farm" line, a line of very floriferous cultivars (Hebron Farm Pink, Cerise, Red Eye, Rose…) characterised by compact clump-forming growth, narrow and strongly hairy leaves, and star-shaped flowers 10 to 15 mm in diameter. The plants reach 10 to 15 cm in height and 15 to 20 cm in spread after a few years. 'Hebron Farm Rose' has a dense rosette habit, composed of medium green, fine straps 4 to 5 cm long, upright and bristly with soft hairs. Small flower stems, rarely taller than the foliage, bear a succession of star-shaped flowers with 6 tepals in a lighter or deeper pink depending on exposure and soil, with a small, clearly visible yellow heart of stamens. The flower buds are darker. Flowering lasts from June to September, sometimes until October in mild climates, if the substrate remains moist in summer.
The plant is deciduous: the foliage dries up and disappears completely at the onset of winter. It is a perennial sensitive to wet cold. Its hardiness is around –5 to –10 °C in dry soil. Like other Rhodohypoxis and Rhodoxis, 'Hebron Farm Rose' likes light, acid to neutral soils, rich in humus.

Plant x Rhodoxis 'Hebron Farm Rose' in a rockery in full sun, an alpine trough or a wide, shallow pot or plant in a tight, small clump, at the edge of a slab, where the flowers come to the surface of the stone. It is also very well suited to kusamono, those small Japanese displays in shallow bowls, often presented alongside bonsai to suggest a season or a landscape. You can pair it with Androsace sarmentosa, an evergreen cushion with small mauve umbels, with bright red Dianthus deltoides 'Brilliant' and with sea thrift Armeria maritima 'Rosea', which punctuates the whole with pink pompoms.

× Rhodoxis were created in the 20th century, when collectors like S.K. Garnett-Botfield crossed South African Rhodohypoxis with yellow Hypoxis: a fine story of hybridisation that gave rise to these much sought-after "little stars" of the rockery.