Not all my bulbs have arrived, but I spent all night dreaming about where to plant these from Brent and Becky’s Bulbs. I have never grown ornamental alliums before, but there were so many beautiful varieties in gardens this year that I decided the time had come.
Brent and Becky offer 26 varieties of allium. I ordered A. aflatunense ‘Purple Sensation’ which has a slightly airy globe of tiny violet purple flowers on a 20 to 30 inch stem. There are many other alliums with this type of globe shaped flowers, some bigger, some more dense with names like giganteum and Globemaster which give a sense of their mammoth size. There are also white, yellow and pink alliums. I have decided where to put these. Two groupings of 5 big bulbs in the Lawn Beds.
I also ordered A. carinatum pulchellum which has smaller pendulous reddish violet flowers that are said to naturalize in meadow or rock gardens. I am still thinking about where to put these ten little bulbs. Maybe between the Applejack rose and Pocahantas lilac at the top of our drive?
I also ordered 10 big bulbs of Nectaroscordum siculum ssp. bulgaricum (there’s a mouthful) which is not a member of the allium family, but Liliaceae. However, its pendulous bell shaped florets “form one baseball sized flower” at the top of a two to three foot stem, so they are similar to the alliums, and the bulbs have a garlic-y smell. The catalog photograph looks like a pink fountain. Now where to put these?
More bulbs are coming from Old House Gardens, including some drumstick alliums. I like having these different allium forms. Do you have alliums in your garden?
The bulb as you bought sound so beautiful. I hope they all survive. I am not inspired to plant much what with the drought still in full swing here. They aren’t predicting any relief as yet either. I have tried alliums many times in the past but I think they don’t like my soil here as they rarely last more than a year. All except the drumstick alliums which I think I pulled out thinking they were wild onions. Ha.. Sad but true. They eventually got so thick they didn’t bloom.
You won’t regret planting those alliums, Pat! This was the first season I had any here, and I love them. I’m still waiting to plant my bulbs–for one thing, the ground is so hard because it’s been dry, and the other is that the beds where I want to plant them are so full of flowers yet I hate to dig anything out. I’m hoping we have some nice days into November, or I’ll never get everything done!
Lisa – You certainly have given me some good tips. I will be sure to mark where I plant them, and hope for rain next year.
Rose – Fortunately we had just over two inches of rain last week and my soil has been very diggable. But I will probably need good weather in November too. I never get everything done.
The only alliums (allii?) I have are ‘Globemasters’ and I do love them, especially because the chipmunks don’t 🙂 I’m intrigued by those Nectaroscordum siculum ssp. bulgaricum – keep us posted in the spring!
I have had those Nectaroscordum for many years and they’re lovely. I do have to remember to stake them early on because the stems seem to want to curl, which makes the flower heads hang at an odd angle. If I stake them, they do great. In any case, they’re beautiful and be sure to examine the little bells up close to fully appreciate their beauty!
Kylee – You’ve helped me decide where to plant the Nectaroscordum – Where I can keep them staked. Thanks for the advice.