Last Allium Standing

I love Alliums and have a lot in my garden. There are hundreds of species, native to many parts of the world, and include edibles like the common onion, shallot, leeks, chives and garlic, as well as ornamental ‘flowering onions’ such as the popular ‘Purple Sensation,’ and ‘Globemaster.’ I have a dozen or so ornamental Allium species all about my garden – they provide trouble free, pollinator friendly blooms from mid May until the end of summer. The last one to send up flower stalks is native to China but now can be found in many parts of the world, Allium tuberosum, garlic chives.

When grown from seed, they develop bulbs that increase in size year to year, sending up commensurate larger flat, strap-like leaves, flower stalks and flower heads. The leaves are edible, especially tasty when young and tender and, as the name suggests, has a flavour balancing somewhere between onion and garlic. Flowers are also edible and make a nice addition to salads and garnishes for soup and stews. The only possible downside to these is how easy they self-seed if not dead-headed – but for many of us that’s a plus, isn’t it?

They’ve just started to bloom in my garden and will likely last until the end of September.