Allium is very stylish these days, and if you can still find them, now is the time to plant.

They are, of course, ornamental garlic!  We all know what a garlic bulb looks like.  Most allium grow from a bulb, but some grow from rhizomes, like chives.  The bulbs can be very large, as can the globe or starburst-shaped flowers—up to six feet in height, with blooms from golf-ball size to wider than your hand.

Colours vary through white, pink, and even yellow, but the classics are the tall purple globes.

The most coveted is probably the Giganteum, which is, obviously…giant!  But Ambassador and Globemaster (my fave—less perfect) are very close.  Mount Everest has a similar look but with a white flower, or there’s Silver Spring, which is a more compact whitish pink with a purple eye.

Summer Drummer is quite the eye-catcher, as they can reach heights of six feet, but they won’t work in every garden.  For a beautiful sky blue, try Azureum.  There are many more worth exploring.

Most are held high above a base rosette of strappy leaves.  As with any bulb, you need to allow the leaves to do their work after the bloom is spent, to send energy back to the bulb so it can come back the next year.  With that in mind, site choice and prep are key:  choose a sunny, well-drained spot in behind some perennials or low shrubs that can hide the ripening foliage.

You will plant the bulb two to three times as deep as the bulb is high, so dig in some organic matter to at least a six-inch depth.  Plant late-blooming narcissus nearby, or put them near plants with interesting foliage, and you will have an interesting spring performer for years to come.  Wow!

By the same author: That pre-fall cleanup (Click the image below)