In our latest blog, it’s time for the allium to take centre stage.
If we had to pick one plant in particular for bees, then it would be alliums. They love them and will swarm over them all day. The pompom like flowers are full of nectar and pollen, which makes them so desirable to the bees.
Most alliums are grown from bulbs but do take care if buying dry bulbs; make sure they are organic and have not been pumped full of chemicals and feeds to make them bigger!
Alliums come in white, pink, and purple. They range in height from 20cm up to 2m and are a descendant of the onion family. If you allow leeks, chives, or garlic to flower, you will see the similarity in the flowers! The flowers come in various shapes from the traditional pompom of the ‘Ambassador’ and ‘Gladiator,’ to the quirky spider-like flowers of ‘Tobago’ and the eccentric ‘Hair’. With the traditional bulb alliums, as the flower stalk starts to appear you will notice that the leaves start to wilt and dry up. This is perfectly normally as the plant is using all the sugar and energy from the leaves to feed and support the huge flower stalk. With these alliums we recommend that they are planted into mixed borders where the other plants around them can hide the leaves. You can trim off the spent leaves, which will not do any damage to the plant or flowers.
Herbaceous alliums, however, do not follow this life cycle and instead – a little like their cousin, the humble chive – they keep their leaves fresh and green throughout the growing season. ‘Bubble Bath’ is a lovely new variety in this category, and you can expect it to flower from June to September, with the foliage on show from March.
All alliums make a fantastic cut flower and will last in the vase for around two weeks. The flower heads also dry very well and can be used for dry flower arrangements and sprays – we even add a bit of gold and silver to them and create Christmas baubles for the tree or use them as table decorations.