My Ophiopogon now sees more of the light of day

A week ago Helena's friend Tess came to pick up an old water bowser which we don't use. However to get it out from the bottom of the steep garden took a lot of clearance of various forms of cover as well as moving an accumulation of old pots and rather neglected plants. 

This Ophiopogon was one of them, growing in a pot inside of purpose-built stand made of stones held within a cage of wire. As it stands here the plant, which is more than a foot in diameter, is sitting on its root ball in a wide pot so that I could remove various small invasive weeds from it. It has quite a few green shoots too so it is quite happy. I blipped it a while ago, which showed its lovely little flowers

It was all rather a mess though the plant has survived quite happily without any attention from me. But I think it is time to split it, repot it into several smaller containers and give some away. I've been growing a pot indoors housing several small clumps of it which were originally off shoots, They are thriving so I know it will survive and be hardy if planted out in the garden, rather than just in a pot.

I thought that Pip in Bristol might like to put it in a border outside his flat in the Clifton area of Bristol where he moved relatively recently. He is enjoying nurturing new plants, and he kindly gave me a hollyhock when I saw him a few weeks ago.

I read the following whilst looking for advice:
Ophiopogon is also known as lilyturf and mondo grass, and this dramatic looking cultivar might be named 'nigrescans'. They grow from short rhizomes, and bear tufts of leaves, from which small, white flowers emerge in racemes held on short stems above the leaves. Black berries follow in autumn, but the foliage is the main feature. It's a grass-like perennial that spreads by rhizomes into a carpet of tufted, narrow, evergreen leaves. Despite their grasslike appearance, they are not closely related to the true grasses, the Poaceae. They're a good option for ground cover in a shady spot and are also useful in container displays, and the underplanting of trees and shrubs. 

In Chinese medicine, the tuber of Ophiopogon japonicus, known as mai men dong, is the cardinal herb for yin deficiency. According to the Chinese herbal medicine Materia Medica, the herb is sweet, slightly bitter, and slightly cold; it enters the heart, lung and stomach channels, thus nourishes the yin of the stomach, spleen, heart, and lungs, and clears heat and quiets irritability. It is used for hacking dry coughs, dry tongue and mouth, and constipation.