Chlidanthus fragrans hails from South America and carries a genus name that translates literally as 'delicate flower' — an apt summary of a bulb that produces large golden-yellow blooms with a clean, citrus-like fragrance that belies its modest size. The curious habit of flowering before the leaves emerge is not an oversight of timing but a feature: the blooms get the full stage. Gray-silver strap-like leaves follow after, extending the plant's season well past the initial flowering.

As a tender bulb (injured below 50°F), it is grown in containers in most temperate climates and brought indoors once temperatures drop. Plant bulbs with the top approximately one inch below the soil surface, spacing four to six inches apart, in well-drained soil. Water consistently as temperatures rise, then reduce and eventually stop through winter dormancy. Division in spring — or in winter when the plant is dormant — is the standard method of propagation, though patience is required: offsets can take up to three years to reach flowering size. Deer leave it alone, and serious pests are rare. What this plant asks for most is time.