Alliums are super bulbous perennials and I grow hundreds of them in my garden. The majority of these wonderful alliums are purple, my favourite colour.
However, some alliums are white, some pink, Moly is yellow and one variety, Caeruleum, is blue.
Also called ornamental onions, but I will stick with allium I think.
With a long flowering season, they bloom for weeks on end, bridging the gap between spring and summer.
In addition, if you choose different varieties, you can have alliums in flower from May right up to the end of July, or even into August.
Alliums are a fabulous choice for colour after the tulips have bloomed and we all need colour to boost our wellbeing. Besides this, the flowers are fantastic for pollinators, so we can help the wildlife as well.
Clearly, I had to have a large number of alliums for my flower borders and a few more for pots.
I have chosen a few varieties to share with you, out of the many that I grow in my flower borders and pots.
This post has a selection of the purple varieties. I will compile another post with some of the whites, yellows, pinks and blue sometime.
An allium of structural beauty
Lets dive in to the first allium for this post, which is named schubertii.
A fabulous starry allium which looks like a sparkler with small purple florets on different sized stems. Each flower has a green centre, so it is a really unusual allium. Flowers can be 30cm in diameter so a great allium for impact in a garden.
In addition to the gorgeous purple flower, if you leave them intact after flowering, they can look fantastic through autumn and winter too.
Another option is to remove the seedheads and display indoors in a dried flower arrangement.
This one is a relatively short allium which grows to a height of around 60cm and is suited to pots as well as borders.
Also, a fabulous allium for the pollinators so a worthy contender for space in your garden, flower borders or pots.
Although they are not fully hardy in colder regions I would mulch them well, or plant them in pots and move to a frost free area in autumn. Mine will be mulched as they are planted in my flower borders.
A favourite, Sphaerocephalon
Onto an absolute favourite of mine, truly one of the most wonderful alliums to grow. Whilst I still cannot pronounce this one without laughing at my attempts, I thoroughly recommend this allium for your garden and pots.
As you will see from the photo above and at the top of this post, this allium is an absolute magnet for pollinators.
Sphaerocephalon has a small dense green drumstick-style flower which matures to a blackcurrant colour, fading as the flower ages.
In addition, a long flowering allium which is later flowering than most, which extends the allium season up to the end of July and beyond.
This one is a small allium with a height of around 60cm.
When composing this allium post in early August, I still had plenty of Sphaerocephalon in flower and all were absolutely covered in bees and butterflies.
Therefore, a fantastic allium for the garden to attract the butterflies for the Big Butterfly Count which was taking place at the time.
Details on the count here https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/
Click here for my recent butterfly count post Counting beautiful butterflies, gardeners can help and my more recent post on the results of the count below
Big Butterfly Count, the results are in
Wonderful alliums reaching for the sky
Next, we have a jolly tall allium. I have grown Summer Drummer for the first time this year, and it really is an allium on stilts!
The height is specified as 1.5m up to 1.8m but my whoppers are just over the 2.1m mark, so that is around seven feet tall.
Therefore, the Summer Drummer is best grown at the back of a border.
Because the stems are tall and rather thick, I would definitely grow some tall plants in front of them. This would hide the stalking stilts whilst the allium is growing, and also when in flower.
I did not appreciate quite how tall they would grow, so will be planting something else in front of them for next year. Not sure what yet, but that is the fun of gardening isn’t it.
Although the flower head is only about the size of a tennis ball, it is said to be highly fragrant. I cannot verify the fragrance as I would need to be seven foot tall to get my nose near the blooms!
Purple Sensation
Purple Sensation is probably one of the most popular of all the alliums and one I have been growing for many years.
I grow around 20 together for a good show of deep violet purple colours in a flower border. In addition, I grow a few in pots as well which I move around to wherever I want some bright violet colours. Everywhere of course!
These wonderful alliums can grow to around 1 metre tall and are very attractive to pollinators.
The upright stems carry these lovely starry flowers that are around 8cm in diameter.
After flowering, the blooms become skeletal seedheads which can look spectacular if left, for an autumn display.
Altogether, a fantastic allium which deserves the accolade of being one of the most popular.
I thoroughly recommend having some of these in your garden and pots.
How to grow wonderful alliums
Almost all of these wonderful alliums need moist but well-drained soil in full sun. I grow several together for a fabulous display of colour.
Additionally, having them in a clump is beneficial for the pollinators, who can stay in one area, saving them valuable energy.
I grow most of my alliums amongst dahlias, as once the alliums have finished flowering, the foliage can look messy. Consequently, the dahlia plants hide the mess with their foliage.
Unless, we are talking about Summer Drummer, which would need a very tall dahlia indeed!
Also, I leave the flower heads on as they look very sculptural over the autumn and into winter.
The best time to plant allium bulbs in the UK is in autumn, from September to November. So, now is a good time to check out new bulbs.
I have added links at the end of the post for some purchasing options that I use.
Allium bulbs can be left in the ground or pot and will flower for many years. I have some Purple Sensation which were planted about ten years ago and they still make a welcome appearance each May.
Onto the planting. Plant allium bulbs at least four times the depth of the bulb and they will be happy for many years.
The smaller bulbs can be planted about 7cm apart. However, the larger bulbs need to be around 20cm apart.
Finally, they only need watering if planted in pots, and the compost becomes dry.
Alliums for winter interest
The photo above shows one of my allium Christophii seed heads, a whopping 40cm across. Unfortunately, broken off from the stem after a collision with one of my lovely chickens!
However, I still have plenty for some autumn and winter interest, giving some extra structure in the flower borders.
Overall, wonderful alliums are a fantastic choice for gardens and pots. Giving a blaze of colour from May to August and feeding our pollinators.
Once planted they are undemanding and also draught tolerant. A brilliant choice to cope with the incredibly dry and hot spells of weather that are becoming more frequent for us all.
As mentioned earlier, here are some links for buying alliums. I purchase from all three and they have all been good quality bulbs, sent out in the autumn.
Now is a great time to order, as they will need planting in the autumn, ready for some fabulous alliums next year.
Click here for Thompson and Morgan allium options
And Click here for Sarah Raven allium options
And Click here for J Parkers alliums options
I am an affiliate for each, so if you click on one of these links above, and make a purchase I may receive a commission, at no additional cost to you.
To conclude this post, full of purple beauties, I hope that you will grow some wonderful alliums in your gardens and pots.
I am off outside to take a few snaps of the allium Sphaerocephalon and Summer Drummer, still flowering merrily away, and buzzing with bees.
There may be a detour for a swoon at some dahlias of course!
Join me next time when Remus Nautilus, my beautiful black cat, makes another appearance.
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2 responses to “Wonderful alliums for beauty and the bees”
I love the one you can’t pronounce and neither can I! Mine were covered in bees every time I looked. Definitely a regular for my garden
Thanks for the comments. So pleased you have the unpronounceable allium, it is the best isn’t it! So good for bees, as you say.