At the fall, bulbs are abundantly available in garden centres and online. You have the opportunity to select the ideal flower kind for your garden when you purchase plants in bloom in the spring or early summer.
You can utilise RHS Find a Plant or go to a specialised nursery to locate specific varieties.
Where to plant
- Border alliums require a sheltered location (to prevent the flower spikes from being blown over) as well as free-draining soil and lots of sunlight for the greatest results.
- You can also grow allium in pots.
- Avoid planting bulbs in wet or cold conditions because they may decay.
- It is preferable to avoid planting the bulbs in frequently cultivated garden areas because digging can easily destroy the bulbs.
- It is better to grow alliums where their foliage is hidden by that of other plants because their leaves fall off when they begin to bloom. The leaves can be removed without harm when they begin to die back.
how do you dry alliums?
Pick off seedheads that are starting to fade and store them for a few months in a cold, dry place, such a shed or cellar. To use as Christmas decorations, I like to dry my seedheads and then spray-paint them silver.
are alliums edible?
Since they are all members of the allium family, onions, leeks, and garlic are often consumed foods. Alliums are theoretically edible, but beware eating any that are designed to be aesthetic garden plants because they may have been chemically treated.
are alliums good for bees?
In the spring, bees and other pollinators are all over our alliums. Our neighbourhood beekeeper also claims that the honey doesn’t taste oniony.
do alliums need staking?
Even the tallest alliums won’t need staking since their sturdy stems can hold them if they are planted deeply enough in full sun (so they don’t extend toward the light) and in a sheltered location (so they don’t blow over in the wind).
Where do alliums thrive the most?
Consider your garden space when choose which alliums to cultivate. Will you be bulk-planting in pots or growing in drifts through the border? as a component of a structured planting plan for prairies? Additionally, it’s crucial to consider the colour of your alliums. Although most allium blossoms are purple, some are also blue, white, yellow, and pink in colour. Also take into account the size of your allium—both the size of the flowers and the plant’s overall height. Allium flowers can range in size from a few centimetres to over 20 cm (8 in) in diameter, and their eights can also differ greatly.
Planting large, tall alliums singly or in drifts works nicely for varieties like “Purple Rain” and “Globemaster.” Allium christophii and other shorter variants grow well in containers. In prairie planting designs, drumstick alliums like Allium sphaerocephalon look fantastic.
Where to plant alliums
Alliums thrive in a sunny location with excellent soil drainage. They don’t care what kind of soil it is. Plant higher-growing cultivars in the back of a border and lower-growing varieties up front. Although alliums do well in containers, their strappy foliage can become ugly after flowering.
The leaves of alliums develop before the flowers do. As a result, they are frequently better suited to the centre of a border where the faded foliage would be hidden and the flowers will put on a display. Plant alliums among attractive grasses and perennials to hide the fading foliage.
Grow alliums in broad drifts through the border or let them naturally grow in your lawn for a striking show.
How to plant alliums
Plant allium bulbs in the fall, at least four times their size deep (at least 15cm deep). It is preferable to plant them deeply rather than superficially.
There is no need to water them in if the soil is damp. Poor soils should be fertilised with a balanced fertiliser in the spring as growth begins to show.
What time of year is allium?
The majority of allium bulbs develop swiftly, and once the earliest spring bulbs have faded, they bloom in the spring or early summer. There are some types, though, that continue to bloom well into the fall.
ALLIUM PLANTING GUIDE
The allium family includes the chives in your herb garden, which are little, fluffy purple balls that bees and butterflies adore. Alliums used as ornaments, however, are anything but tiny. Big drama is what these enormous globes on tall stems are all about in your landscape. Alliums are a great choice if you are growing bulbs with kids since they enjoy the fact that when these blooms bloom, they frequently tower over them.
Garden & Container Planting
Alliums require a cold spell to establish their roots and get ready for spring, just like other flower bulbs do. So it’s time to start planting as soon as the first chill of fall appears in the air.
Although flower bulbs are hardy and simple to grow, they detest getting their feet wet since they can quickly decay if left to “bathe” in water. Therefore, avoid at all costs moist soil. this refers to locations where puddles are still visible 5–6 hours after a downpour. You can also improve possibly wet soil by incorporating organic material like peat, bark, or manure. The same motto applies when planting bulbs in containers: drainage, drainage, and more drainage. Purchase a container that has at least a few drainage holes at the bottom.
Because alliums require a lot of light to flourish, locations with less than full sun are not suitable.
Alliums must be buried deeply enough so that changes in the temperature above ground—either too warm or too cold—won’t influence them. Because containers can’t protect bulbs as well as mother earth can, it may be preferable to let your containers spend the winter indoors in a cool, dark, well-ventilated area where the temperature won’t rise above 60 degrees Fahrenheit, such as an unheated basement or garage, if you live in one of the hardiness zones 3 to 7.
The bulb is placed at the bottom of the hole with its sharp end facing up, and a hole three times as deep as the bulb’s height is dug to determine the optimal depth. When competing for nutrients with other bulbs, alliums perform worse, therefore it’s best to space them 6 to 8 inches apart.
After planting, it’s crucial to give the bulbs plenty of water to help them settle and develop roots rapidly, but after that, you won’t need to water them again. All that’s left to do is wait patiently for spring to come and surprise you with the fruits of your labour and for winter to work its magic underground.
Alliums don’t typically need watering during the flowering season, but you can water them if there hasn’t been any rain for three to five days.
Don’t trim the foliage of alliums right away after they have stopped flowering; through photosynthesis, the leaves will produce the nutrition the bulb needs for its subsequent growing season. The leaves will naturally turn yellow and die back after a few weeks, at which point you can remove it. The bulb will now enter dormancy and won’t require watering again until the following spring.
How to plant alliums in your garden:
- Wait till the soil is 60°F or colder before planting. This will happen around September or October in the North and October or November in the South.
- Choose a location in your garden that has soil that drains properly and receives full sun.
- The allium bulbs should be planted with their pointed ends facing up, 4 to 8 inches deep, and 6 to 8 inches apart.
- once, and then wait until spring.
- Don’t remove the leaf from alliums after they bloom. Remove it once it has entirely withered and become yellow.
How to plant alliums in containers:
- Wait until the soil temperature is at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit and the weather is chilly. This will happen around September or October in the North and October or November in the South.
- Choose a location in your garden that receives direct sun.
- Find a container with good drainage, fill it with loose soil, and make sure that water won’t collect and pool at the bottom.
- The allium bulbs should be buried in the ground with their pointed ends facing up, 4 to 8 inches deep, and 6 to 8 inches apart. You can try putting the bulbs closer together since containers frequently have a small amount of room, but make sure they never touch.
- If you reside in hardiness zones 3–7, you can water well once and wait until spring, or you can bring the containers inside and let them spend the winter in a cool place like an unheated garage or basement.
Special effects
You can choose the extremely regulated technique if you prefer order and cleanliness or if you want to maximise the wow-factor alliums can provide to your garden or container. Grow your alliums in straight rows with roughly 10 bulbs spaced closely apart (you might want to add some fertiliser to the soil to make sure they still get all the nutrients they need). Growing a row of 10 taller alliums, like Purple Sensation, behind a row of 10 slightly shorter ones, like Azureum, can produce an even more dramatic effect.
Are alliums costly?
Late spring is when alliums burst into beautiful spheres of bloom, matching the season’s vivacity and swagger. Planting season for them is in the fall.
By any standard, alliums are flamboyant flowers. Their enormous impact in a garden is due to their globe-shaped flower heads that are covered in an infinite number of small star-shaped blooms.
Christian Harper, a horticulture at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin, who has been growing alliums in the Olbrich’s flowerbeds for more than 20 years, believes that they “truly create an exclamation point.” From a distance, he claims, “there is simply something about those globes; they seem to be floating, and they really pop.”
Huge blooms predominate on ornamental onions in the allium family. The greatest diversity is provided by mail-order businesses, with some catalogues including a dozen or more distinct sorts. Garden supply stores frequently carry a wide variety of alliums, including the largest of them all, Globemaster, which has 10-inch purple globes of glittering flowers on stems up to three feet tall. The beautiful weeks-long blooming period of Globemaster’s flowers in the garden. There is nothing else in the garden world quite like these enormous round balls, and they hold their own while the roses and daylilies emerge after they bloom. The strong flower heads stay beautiful for months after they bloom; at this stage, they are tawny rather than purple.
Other than Globemaster, there are purple alliums with smaller flower orbs, white-flowering alliums, pink alliums with looser flower heads, and sunny yellow alliums that are just 10 inches tall. They are highly prized by garden designers for their outstanding beauty and versatility across the seasons. Alliums lead the parade of summer flowers like a tall drum major at the front of a marching band, like a burst of pyrotechnics at the conclusion of spring. The first to blossom tower over the final tulips of spring, while the last to bloom burst forth with the roses.
Enjoy yourself with them. Garden designer in Washington, D.C., Barbara Katz, claims her favourite plant is Allium schubertii. It resembles a constellation, An unusual allium, Allium schubertii grows on stems that are only approximately 18 inches tall. Contrarily, the blooming globe has a diameter of roughly 12 inches. The lengths of individual flower stems vary greatly: The result is unmistakably a starry, merry glittering effect.
In her own gardens as well as those of her clients, Katz also plants “a tonne of Purple Sensation” alliums. The 30-inch-tall, deep purple flowers have dark purple petals. Katz said that when she mixes it with hostas, the hostas appear to be in bloom. “It is planted close to hydrangeas. Fun is had.”
Because the strappy allium foliage typically fades after the plant’s flowers emerge, Katz and other designers purposefully place alliums among perennial flowers and shrubs. A vibrant garden hides the worn-out leaves, making it easier to appreciate the magnificent blossoms.
Beyond its beautiful blossoms, the Purple Sensation allium is renowned for being the best value among tall purple alliums. For less than $20, you may purchase 25 bulbs. Frequently, Globemaster bulbs cost $5 or more each. Another pricey allium is Ambassador, a tall purple variety with flower heads that measure approximately six inches in diameter. Bulbs for Ambassador cost around $6 each.
All of them are worthwhile investments. Alliums are well recognised for their propensity to survive for many years in a garden. Jacqueline van der Kloet, a Dutch garden designer whose skill with flower bulbs and perennials has led to international garden projects, including ones at Battery Park in New York City and Millennium Park in Chicago, believes that they are “easy and long-living, almost like perennial plants.” (Both projects are partnerships with Piet Oudolf, a naturalistic Dutch landscape designer.)
When Van der Kloet planted bulbs at the Lurie Garden in Chicago, she also included Purple Sensation and the drumstick allium, A. sphaerocephalon. She particularly adores the smaller alliums, such as the A. neapolitanum, or white-blooming bride’s onion, which is frequently used in bridal bouquets. She advises pairing all alliums with “plants that are pretty humble,” as the alliums will offer the finishing touch that makes the combo ideal. She advises combining them with decorative grasses, geraniums, catmint, lavenders, and gaura.
Plant types and varieties that will bloom for a long time to fully enjoy the entire allium season. Place them randomly across flower beds in groups of three to five bulbs. According to Christian Curless of Colorblends, a mail-order bulb speciality firm that has 11 distinct alliums in its catalogue, planted this manner, “it truly seems like quite a lot is going on.” It’s time to modify how Curless, and many other landscape designers, “think of alliums as a little bit ‘in-between season’ plants.” They design their own season and generously distribute it.
Ross is a Kansas City, Missouri-based independent garden writer. She is a regional editor for Better Homes and Gardens, Country Gardens, and Nature’s Garden magazines as well as the author of a weekly gardening column for Universal Press Syndicate.