Perennial bulb of the Amaryllidaceae family, Ipheion uniflorum is native to Uruguay and Argentina, where it colonizes meadows and grassy slopes in temperate conditions. The cultivar 'Rolf Fiedler' is distinguished from the typical species by the particularly strong hue of its flowers, a true and bright blue-lilac, significantly more intense than the whitish or pale lavender forms usually encountered.
The plant forms small low clumps, barely 10–15 cm high, of narrow, linear leaves, with a glaucous green color, which emit a slight garlic scent when crushed — a characteristic trait of the genus. Each stem bears a solitary, star-shaped flower, with six well-spread oval tepals, in a soft blue-violet, with a center adorned with bright yellow stamens that punctuate the corolla with a very readable warm spot.
In its natural habitat, the flowering extends from late winter to spring. In cultivation under our climates, it blooms from March to April, sometimes as early as late February in sheltered and sunny locations.
It requires well-drained soil, in full sun, and appreciates the warmth provided by a rockery or gravel environment. Hardy down to about -10°C, it multiplies rapidly by division of the bulb clumps and eventually forms pretty flowering carpets in spring.