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Flowering alliums: Diverse, Lovely |
By James Karo, master gardener, and Carl Wilson, extension agent, Denver County office of Colorado State University Cooperative Extension
Planting onions for flowers?
Welcome to the diverse world of flowering alliums, a plant family of perhaps 400 species that includes the familiar onion, garlic, and chives
Countless peoples have loved alliums since the earliest civilizations. In the Middle Ages, onions were thought to improve vision, enhance sexual prowess and counter baldness. By Elizabethan times, the giant purple allium giganteum was featured as an ornamental garden centerpiece.
Ornamental alliums bloom in colors including yellow, white, beige, purple, pink and blue. Bloom times vary from spring to fall, depending on the species. Foliage shapes range from round to straplike to broad.
'Mount Everest'
Two of the largest and most spectacular alliums bloom in June and make excellent fresh and dried cut flowers, Star of Persia (A. christophii) is perhaps the most spectacular. Up to 80 star-shaped florets are carried in an open, 6 to 8- inch flower head. In bloom, the flowers resemble a lavender-to lilac-colored fireworks burst.
A Karataviense, the Turkestan allium, is notable for dense 3 to 5-inch round flower clusters in colors varying from beige to pink to reddish-lilac. The large flowers on dumpy stems contrast well against broad bluish-green leaves.
Turkestan allium
For the rock garden, try A. ostrowskianum, Ostrowsky onion. Up to five stems of bright, carmine-pink flowers are produced in June only four inches above the ground.
More subtle is A. moly, commonly called golden garlic or lily leek. Bright yellow flowers in open clusters on 10-inch stems add a delicate note to June gardens.
Golden garlic
For Colorado mountain gardeners in Zones 2 or 3, try June-blooming A. caeruleum. The "blue globe" onion produces cornflower-blue flowers in 2-inch round clusters on 1-foot stems.
A. sphaerocephalon, drumsticks allium, produces flattened globular heads on 24-inch stems in May or June. This allium spreads freely, producing clumps of reddish-purple flowers suitable for the perennial border.
If a 1 to 11/2-foot pink flower fits your color scheme, try one-leaved onion, A. unifolium. Native to coastal California, the sugar pink blooms and irislike leaves look as good in the June garden as the do in a pot.
Of course, there is always rose-purple chives, A.schenoprasum, equally at home in the kitchen garden and the perennial border.
For blooms next year, fall is the time to buy and plant the bulbs or rhizomes of these versatile ornamental plants. Many local nurseries will stock a selection, or check mail-order suppliers in time to order for planting.
Photographs courtesy of Judy Sedbrook
