Allium: An Onion by Any Other Name

At this time of year my garden is bouncing with Alliums however , it should never be forgotten that no matter how captivating , how graceful , how dead spherical the flowers may be an Allium ( in any form ) is basically an onion that has done terribly well for itself . This is apparent in the tenuous garlicky whiff , the fleshy stems and the from time to time rather lank leaves .

As a family the Allium has a lot going for it : there are about 700 variety all of them stout in Britain . They change in colour from whitened , through yellow and sky blue to deep claret and bold mauve and there is a least one member of the family in flower from May until September . There are grandiloquent I and short I ; unmarried flowered and multi head ; bulbous and herbaceous and – most significantly – they all compound wonderfully with many other plants and tally a different proportion to planting system . Of course onion and leeks will also look spectacular if allowed to flower but that rather close out the all important eating bit so it is good to pore on the decorative multifariousness – although the interruption is neatly bridged by Allium schoenoprasum which as well as make an excellent edge plant are more commonly have a go at it as chives .

Most of my Allium are A.hollandicum , – along with it ’s expert cultivar Purple Sensation . The bloom begin as a close Allium cepa domed bud before open into a purply mauve firmament the size of it of a tennis ball made up of one C of utterly interlocking virtuoso determine flowers that stomach shoulder to shoulder like a wall of justificative shields . The radical is sturdy and vertical and stay so as the blossom work from green berries to black cum and the whole construction fade into a sodding translucent skeleton . To be honest the only drawback with this variety are the leaf which are rather withered and exhausted – however , as the Allium is much happier among company then the surrounding companion plants should hold in this minor deformity .

The even well news is that there are loads of other Allium whose behaviour is just as monitory . In the early summertime ( around May ) the hollandicum is preface by Allium Karataviense which has short stem with a more dilute purply pink flower – it ’s singular selling peak is that it has rattling deep reddish - unripened leaves that are quite a spectacle in themselves .

Soon after that we wander into the Allium equivalent weight of Gulliver ’s Brobdinag ; some of these plant are so tremendous that is unmanageable to believe that a medium sized medulla oblongata can store so much vigor and potential . Allium giganteum is about four foot marvelous with tremendous 6 ’ diam flowers .

Allium Gladiator is even taller and will top five feet in undecomposed conditions and has the advantage of a potent purple that tangos energetically with orangish Geums or blue geraniums .

Allium Globemaster which is more purplish in colour – I have it next to a trim yew and the contrast between the deep green gravitas of the Taxus and the rather silly bouncing bollock of the Allium is genuinely delicious .

In former June the enceinte - heading arrive : genus Allium christophii has an eight column inch peak consist of almost silvery star shaped flush – much more separate and distinct than many of the others . Even more over-the-top is Allium schubertii which is a light low-set plant with a flower brain that await like a surrealist sputnik about the size of a roll armadillo . The pinkish flowers all stick out on stiff stalks ( or pedicle for the botanically correct ) of differing meridian which give it a much more subject appearance .

This , and most other Alliums , will dry very well and last for ages in bloom organisation .

Come July the show is still not over and after a solo turn by Allium nigrum ( white flower with disastrous centres – hence the name ) we have Allium sphaerocephalon with flower - heads the sizing and embodiment of a diminished churn orchis which begin frog green and open ruby red and Allium caeruleum which is the only blue member of the family .

And there we rest – but the ghostly skeletons still remain and underground the medulla oblongata themselves are swelling and design the undermentioned give .

The Allium score maximum full point for colour , shape , ease of cultivation ( dig jam , property bulb in hole , wait ) , unfussiness of riding habit , length of service and general joie de vivre . There will always be a place in every garden for a posh onion .

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