Alliums - the art and soul of spring

By Hugh Earnhart

OSU Extension master gardener volunteer

Although we officially entered the fall season Wednesday, the long shadows of autumn are still several days away. But it might be the proper time to think about fall bulb-planting to enrich the spring garden. Gardens are like hanging baskets, except larger. Just as the grouping in the hanging basket, garden architecture needs plants that are thrillers, spillers and fillers. We refer to this as a balanced arrangement that makes your garden more pleasing to the eye.

A marvelous plant to use as a thriller in the spring garden is allium (alliaceae). Alliums are in a large family which includes leeks and onions. They’re found growing wild all over the Northern Hemisphere. More than 200 varieties have been cultivated, and they are hardy and easy to grow. They also do well planted in pots due to their hardiness.

They are part of the art and soul of a spring garden. Most alliums are shaped on uncluttered stately stems with a blob or firecracker type bloom on top. Color, size and form of the flower make the difference in the varieties. The alliums with the large spherical heads are blobs with hundreds of individual minute flowers.

The tallest alliums grow on stems about three feet, and the shortest will fit into a hypertufa trough. Some have a sweet scent, and only when you bruise the plant do you suddenly realize it belongs to the onion and garlic kingdom. The silhouette of the allium is elegant, statesman-like and well-defined, which makes it an exclamation point among an army of perennials.

Most alliums are hardy, but stick with those that are climatized for our hardiness zone (5). Plant alliums in the fall in full to partial sun, at 6 to 7 inches deep in rich hummus soil with a balanced fertilizer. Be sure the area has good drainage, as they do not like wet feet. After the bloom is spent, do not be tempted to cut the foliage or flower. Like the daffodil and tulip, the foliage feeds the bulbs for next year’s beauty. When the foliage is completely dead, cut, dry and spray paint the stem and flower for thriller material in a flower arrangement.

This plant’s bonus – it’s deer, rabbit-, squirrel- and vole-proof – these animals like crocuses and tulips much more. Here’s some varieties proven appropriate for our area: Ambassador (purple), Caeruleum (pink and purple), Angulosum (lilac), Gladiator (lilac), Giganteum (mauve), Globemaster (violet),Jeannine (yellow), Beauregard (purple) and Mount Everest (white).