I've never grown alliums but have decided to try a few next year.
What are your favourite varieties for reliability and longest
flowering?

Pam in Bristol

In article , nospamigg1937
@yahoo.co.uk says...

I've never grown alliums but have decided to try a few next year.
What are your favourite varieties for reliability and longest
flowering?

I have just bought allium purple sensation. Must get them planted.

http://webassets.rhs.org.uk/content/...lium_hollandic
um_Purple_Sensation_LW?width=510

I never tried them before because I thought the 2 ft stems and large
heads might not survive the high wind we get here; but a couple of
months ago I saw them growing and multiplying in the open, in a far more
exposed windy coastal garden where they had obviously survived for
years.

Janet

On 2013-08-11 10:36:28 +0100, Pam Moore said:

I've never grown alliums but have decided to try a few next year.
What are your favourite varieties for reliability and longest
flowering?

Pam in Bristol

Globemaster did well for us here for several years, probably about 4 or
5. They were planted in considerable numbers and always caused a lot of
interest and admiration. After that period though, they started to
lose vigour and produced smaller, though still very lovely heads and
were re-planted in containers for this year. We got them from
Parkers. Obviously, the larger the bulbs you buy to start with, the
larger the plants early on in their flowering life. Ray says he thinks
they split them after two years but he's not certain of that as he's
never done it and we don't grow a lot of bulb plants ourselves for
sale. But if you take a look at Parkers online, you'll get plenty to
choose from. I like the white ones, too and hope to get some A.
Bulgaricum this year.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

Pam Moore wrote:
I've never grown alliums but have decided to try a few next year.
What are your favourite varieties for reliability and longest
flowering?

Personally, I'm very fond of the giant flowers you get on leeks that
have gone to seed. :-)
(And the bees love them)

"Victoria Conlan" wrote

Pam Moore wrote:
I've never grown alliums but have decided to try a few next year.
What are your favourite varieties for reliability and longest
flowering?

Personally, I'm very fond of the giant flowers you get on leeks that
have gone to seed. :-)
(And the bees love them)

Make good cut flowers too, you just do what the florists do an out a
teaspoon of bleach in the water to kill the leak smell.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On 11/08/2013 10:36, Pam Moore wrote:
I've never grown alliums but have decided to try a few next year.
What are your favourite varieties for reliability and longest
flowering?

Pam in Bristol

Just a word to avoid things like Allium viminalis "Hair". The flowers
really aren't much to look at, and they produce small bulbils rather
than seed. These break off and get everywhere!

--

Jeff

For sheer indestructibility, A moly. About 6 inches tall, yellow. Probably not what you had in mind. But makes a good show in a difficult spot when the grape hyacinths have stopped flowering.

A. christophii is my favourite. Remains attractive as the flowers dry And it's very easy, needs no attention, and self-seeds and you get more of it (but not invasively), so can dare to use it for cut flowers. Others I've tried seem to need feeding and watering and such tediousness, and don't propagate as easily.

"Janet" wrote:
In article , nospamigg1937
@yahoo.co.uk says...

I've never grown alliums but have decided to try a few next year.
What are your favourite varieties for reliability and longest
flowering?

I have just bought allium purple sensation. Must get them planted.

http://webassets.rhs.org.uk/content/...lium_hollandic
um_Purple_Sensation_LW?width=510

I never tried them before because I thought the 2 ft stems and large
heads might not survive the high wind we get here; but a couple of
months ago I saw them growing and multiplying in the open, in a far
more exposed windy coastal garden where they had obviously survived
for years.

Norfolk winds probably don't get quite as bad as yours, but I quite
often get stiff winds whipping across the fields at the back of our
house and my main border can get a bashing. I find Purple Sensation
stands up well in flower and the seedheads are still attractive even
after the flower is over - it's usually the drying stems and seedheads
that are more vulnerable to getting knocked over, but planted among
other lower things they seem to manage stay upright on the whole.

It's Allium christophii seedhead stems that I often end up having to
"replant" among surrounding geranium foliage as they're a bit too top
heavy sometimes, but that's no problem really and they can still make a
great contribution even like that.

A. sphaerocephalum seems to last quite well; they have smaller
flowerheads so need planting in decent groups or drifts among lower
perennials.

Alliums take up hardly any space among other plants, which also serve to
mask the dying down allium foliage, so if the OP plants two or three
types that flower at slightly different times, putting them in separate
areas, the flowering period could be stretched out.

--
Sue

On 11/08/2013 10:36, Pam Moore wrote:
I've never grown alliums but have decided to try a few next year.
What are your favourite varieties for reliability and longest
flowering?

Pam in Bristol




I've had a brilliant display of Alliums this year. I've been growing
them for 5-6 yrs now, adding more each year. I'm on heavyish clay, so
lose a few each year. I find Allium hollandicum "Purple Sensation" good
for colour and good upright appearance. I also grow Allium Christophii,
which has huge metalic lilac-coloured heads of starry flowers. Again,
some persist, some are lost.

I find that the Allium h.'Purple Sensation' flower first, followed by
the A. Christophii. This gives me a relatively long flowering season.

If your soil is heavy, then improving drainage with sharp sand or grit
will help, or you could plant them in pots, but I don't know what that
will do for their longevity. If you want some to try for the first time
without breaking the bank, A.'Purple Sensation' would be your best bet.
A. Chrisophii is also much admired and has a handsome shimmering
presence.

--
Spider
from high ground in SE London
gardening on clay

Sacha wrote:

Globemaster did well for us here for several years, probably about 4 or
5. They were planted in considerable numbers and always caused a lot of
interest and admiration. After that period though, they started to
lose vigour and produced smaller, though still very lovely heads and
were re-planted in containers for this year.

It was suggested to me by a grower that Alliums retain their
vigour better if dead-headed. Whilst I can see the logic, it
seems a waste, since the long-lasting seed heads are part of the
attraction.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

On 2013-08-13 08:57:06 +0100, Chris J Dixon said:

Sacha wrote:

Globemaster did well for us here for several years, probably about 4 or
5. They were planted in considerable numbers and always caused a lot of
interest and admiration. After that period though, they started to
lose vigour and produced smaller, though still very lovely heads and
were re-planted in containers for this year.

It was suggested to me by a grower that Alliums retain their
vigour better if dead-headed. Whilst I can see the logic, it
seems a waste, since the long-lasting seed heads are part of the
attraction.

Chris

Yes, I would think that the bulb farmers do that , rather as some
people take flowers off Hostas to promote leaf size. But as you say,
doing that to garden grown Alliums seems to defeat the purpose! I
would think ours flowered at full size for at least 4 years, diminished
a bit in the 5th and were really small this year, compared to what they
should be. We had planted them in containers, so in fact, their flower
head size was in perfect proportion for that. But taken overall, I
think that's not a bad investment!
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

Sacha wrote:

Yes, I would think that the bulb farmers do that , rather as some
people take flowers off Hostas to promote leaf size. But as you say,
doing that to garden grown Alliums seems to defeat the purpose! I
would think ours flowered at full size for at least 4 years, diminished
a bit in the 5th and were really small this year, compared to what they
should be. We had planted them in containers, so in fact, their flower
head size was in perfect proportion for that. But taken overall, I
think that's not a bad investment!

Which reminds me to make sure to order this month's Gardeners'
World "free" Alliums.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.