I’ve already hinted that I love giant plants and huge ornamental onions are right up there on my list of fave plants. Allium ‘Globemaster’ is my favourite variety of the ones I’ve tried. They are a consistent performer with extra large bloom heads that are well proportioned to thier height.
globemaster allium, the disco ball of flowers, originally uploaded by this is emily.
Fall is approaching and that’s the time to plant alliums if you want the to show up next year in early summer. Purple is the most common colour for alliums but a few of the many varieties come in pink, white and even blue or yellow. I tried Allium ‘Gladiator’ once and they were sure tall but the bloom heads weren’t as large and they looked kind of tall and lanky in comparison. A few other varieties to try are Allium cristophii and Allium schubertii which both claim to have bloom heads which can be 8 inches to 1 foot across.
Globe Flower, originally uploaded by siebe ©.
Alliums are easy flowers to grow and they’re great for adding some dramatic impact to your garden - especially for garden photos. For the best impact you should plant them in groups. Odd numbers of 3, 5 or 7 are best depending on your garden design.
Giant Allium Seed Head, originally uploaded by patrick_standish.
After alliums have gone to seed the seed heads continue to look spectacular for quite some time whether you leave them in the garden or cut them to create a rustic dried flower arrangement. Remember to leave the foliage until it has gone completely brown or yellow so the bulb can absorb all the nutrients from the foliage for next year’s blooms. Alliums are tall so if you plant them with something low-lying like the ferns below than the allium blooms will pop out above and you can hide the dying foliage under the ferns until it can be removed.
favorite combo: ferns and allium, originally uploaded by this is emily.
Growing Conditions
Type: Perennial Bulb
Hardiness Zone: 4-8
Planting Time: Late Fall
Bloom Time: Early Summer
Exposure: Full Sun
Soil: Well Drained
Usually a Deer Resistant Plant
Can be grown as a Container Plant (in large containers)
Work well as Cut Flowers (even after gone to seed)
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