The Onion Family Steps Out

Azure Allium offers true-blue color for the garden.

Too good for the vegetable garden, ornamental alliums prefer a home in your perennial garden and they deserve a hearty welcome. Alliums are plants of exquisite beauty in both flower and leaf, with tough constitutions. They resist most common pests and diseases, are undemanding as to soil requirements, and are ignored by rodents and deer.

There are more than 700 different types of alliums in the world. It wasn't until the late 1800s that this vast group of plants started to intrigue plant lovers. Russian botanists began collecting some of the spectacular alliums from Central Asia and introducing them to avid horticulturists through the Imperial Botanical Garden in St. Petersburg. Of course, it didn't take long for the consummate plant hunters, the British, to get wind of this "new" family of garden-worthy plants. Their expeditions yielded many more interesting alliums varieties. Today there are at least 40 in cultivation; here are some profiles of just a few of the best.

Large alliums, such as Globemaster, can be mixed easily into the perennial border.

There are several varieties of alliums that are very impressive in stature. At the top of the list is Globemaster. This goliath is a hybrid resulting from crossing Allium macleanii with A. christophii. Though its breeders recognized immediately that they had a very exciting new plant on their hands, it was 20 years before they were able to produce enough bulbs to introduce it to the market. Under good growing conditions, Globemaster's sphere-shaped flower heads are borne on 3-foot-high stems, and measure almost 1 foot across, with up to 1,000 purple, star-shaped florets. Another impressive ball-type allium is Gladiator. It reaches 4 feet, with 6-inch globes of violet-blue flowers carried on strong stems that hold up in the wind.

A new, pure-white, big-ball type has just been introduced. It's called Mount Everest and produces huge, snow-white globes on sturdy 3-foot stems. It's great in combination with Globemaster and Gladiator. All three of these stars are super for bouquets, last weeks in the vase, and are knockouts in dried arrangements.

The rosy-pink orbs of Allium schubertii are an intriguing combination of two different types of flowers: female blooms that are about 2 inches long, and male blooms that are about 8 inches long. The florets seem to explode from the center in all directions. The plant itself is 2 feet high, with attractive green foliage.

The name of the species says it all: Azure Allium (Allium caeruleum). This plant's 1- to 1 1/2-inch, cornflower-blue blossoms are borne on sturdy, 18- to 24-inch stems. First introduced from Russia in 1840, it adds a color that gardeners can't get enough of: blue. The grasslike leaves stay neat and attractive for the entire summer, gradually forming a large clump that can be easily divided.

Allium bulgaricum has unusual, bell-shaped flowers.

Most gardeners are still unfamiliar with the burgundy-and-green, bell-shaped flowers of Allium bulgaricum. The plant's exquisitely formed flowers arch gracefully like shooting stars and always attract attention. This allium's totally unique, decorative seed heads have an interesting garden presence all summer long.

Ornamental alliums are hardy to zone 4 and they have very undemanding cultural requirements. They will grow in most any soil, as long as it is well drained. Alliums adore sunlight and will perform best when they can bask in it all day long. Since most of them multiply naturally, they can be left untouched in the same area for years.

Alliums are drought-tolerant plants that actually prefer to be grown on the dry side. There are no serious diseases or insect pests that bother them. And you won't ever have to worry about rodents or deer, since they seem to have no appreciation for the taste of onions—ornamental or otherwise.

Try a few alliums in your flower gardens this season and discover the grace and good manners of these under-appreciated perennials.