IN THE GARDEN — Allium, not your average onion

View more by Elaine Vida

MUSKOKAN — There are certain plants I’ve always coveted. One of those is allium, a member of the onion family. Yes, onion, but not one that brings tears to your eyes... though it is spectacular.
I’ve noticed alliums in display gardens and magazines looking so exotic with their huge round heads of delicate flowers that I didn’t even consider the possibility of growing them in my own garden. I assumed they were fussy or fragile, but we all know what happens when we assume. It turns out that they’re not only hardy for this area, they’re super easy to grow.
Last summer the Ontario Horticultural Association was selling alliums as a fundraiser through our local society. Being a loyal member, I bought a package each of the four varieties offered.
They came as bulbs ready to be planted in the fall. There were several small ones, 10 each of two types of medium-size and one giant one. I planted them the same as I would any other bulb at a depth three times their diameter. I even remembered to mark their locations so that I could look for them this spring.
Happily, all of them showed up this spring with the first blooms opening in late May. Purple sensation has big four-inch puffball heads of dark purple flowers on three-foot stems. I’m thrilled and there are still more to come.
The one that I’m looking forward to seeing in bloom is the giant one called His Excellency. I only have the one, but it promises to have a tightly packed, spectacular, five-inch bloom on a four-foot stem and should be blooming mid-June. I placed it in a spot where it can tower over the other perennials in the area and be the centre of attention.
I’m not sure which of the other two varieties will be the next to bloom. I’m guessing it will be the A. bulgaricum or Bulgarian onion. The flower buds are starting to show, so it should be mid-June. They’ll have loose umbels of drooping bell-shaped flowers in pastel colours. Apparently, these will self-sow; I’ll have to keep an eye on them. It could turn out to be too much of a good thing.
That leaves A. sphaerocephalon, otherwise known as drumstick allium, round-headed garlic or ball-headed onion. I’m really curious to see how they turn out. The leaves are long and arching with the flower buds just peeking out. They should bloom late June. The flowers are described as small, compact purple-maroon, egg-shaped flower heads on 70-centimetre stems.
There are more varieties of alliums to choose from. With careful selection you can arrange to have blooms from spring to late summer. There are also a few other colours available: soft lilac, rose-pink, crimson red, powder-blue, lemon-yellow and pure white.
Most alliums need sun to grow. There are a few — A. sphaerocephalon is one — that will take part shade. All alliums need good drainage or they will rot. Given these two main conditions, they should survive year after year.
To keep them natural looking, plant them in clumps of odd numbers: three, five, seven or nine, in a staggered group. When they get too crowded, the clumps can be lifted and divided right after flowering.
The foliage can get untidy after flowering, so surround them by other perennials that will screen the leaves as they die off. When the flowers are done, the star-shaped seed heads are interesting enough to be left standing in the garden. However, beware of the varieties that self seed. Anyone who has witnessed the seeding power of a clump of chives knows what to expect.
The flowers will attract bees but do not appeal to deer, squirrels, rabbits, mice or chipmunks. Good news!
It was worth the wait to finally have alliums in my garden. I’m also going to re-evaluate my plant wish list. There may be more plants I’ve been avoiding unnecessarily.
Elaine Vida is a horticulturist and a landscape designer with an Ontario Diploma of Horticulture from the University of Guelph. She works as a designer with Brackenrig Landscaping, and can be reached at evdesignster@gmail.com.

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