How many of you planted Allium this fall so it will come up next late spring or early summer?
This is a large genus consisting of more than 700 species of bulbous perennials and biennials that occur in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere and range in height from 4 inches to 5 feet (10 cm – 1.5 m).
Some species are edible, including onions, garlic and chives.
The most ornamental species, which are brightly coloured with beautiful flowers, mostly come from west and central Asia.
Common to the genus is the oniony smell emitted when the leaves are bruised or cut. All species have flowers in an umbel terminating on a small, erect stalk and sheathed in bud by membranous bracts.
Bulbs can be fat or quite slender but generally produce new bulbils at the base, sometimes also in the flower stalks.
Cultivation:
They prefer a sunny, open position in fertile, well-drained, weed free soil. Both edible and ornamental species have the same pest and disease enemies such as onion fly, stem eelworm, rust and onion white rot. Propagate from seed or bulbils.
