Allium plants, which include ornamental onions, garlic, shallots, leeks, and chives, are beneficial plants that serve many purposes in the garden. Offering pest control, pollinator attraction, and culinary enhancements, alliums provide gardeners with a multipurpose natural solution. In this article, we will explore the key benefits of incorporating allium plants into your garden and provide tips on how to grow these useful plants successfully.
The allium genus contains over 800 species of flowering bulb plants that produce globular flower heads atop straight stems. While most gardeners are familiar with common alliums like onions garlic and chives, many don’t realize the wide variety of ornamental allium plants available. From drumstick alliums to garlic chives, allium plants exhibit diversity in form, size, bloom time, and color. Their flowers come in hues of purple, pink, yellow, and white. When in bloom, these eye-catching spherical flower heads create beautiful focal points in the garden.
In addition to their ornamental appeal, alliums offer a host of benefits that make them a smart addition to both edible and ornamental gardens Let’s explore the top advantages of incorporating allium plants in your garden
Benefits of Growing Allium Plants
1. Natural Pest Deterrent
One of the biggest benefits of allium plants is their ability to deter common garden pests The strong odor and taste of alliums repel pest insects, rodents, deer, and rabbits Interplanting alliums with vegetables and flowers helps protect them from being eaten. Popular protective alliums include chives, garlic, and ornamental onions. Planting these around the perimeter of your garden creates a living pest barrier.
2. Attract Pollinators
While repelling pests, alliums attract beneficial pollinators to your garden. Their nectar-rich blooms draw in butterflies, bees, wasps, and hoverflies. You’ll find honeybees flocking to allium blossoms. Ensuring thorough pollination, these beneficial insects promote fuller fruiting and abundant harvests from your edibles.
3. Low Maintenance
Once established, alliums require very little care and maintenance. They are resistant to most diseases and pests, eliminating the need for chemical pest control measures. Allium bulbs are drought tolerant, thriving with little watering or fertilization needed. They reliably return year after year, offering permanent solutions rather than temporary pest control.
4. Long-Lasting Blooms
Unlike some flowering bulbs that bloom briefly, alliums have an exceptionally long blooming period. Depending on variety, their flowers last 4 to 6 weeks. This provides weeks of color and interest in the garden. The dried seed heads left behind after blooming also offer visual appeal and texture.
5. Deer Resistant
Deer tend to avoid all alliums. For gardeners plagued with deer, planting ornamental onions, chives, garlic, and shallots serves as excellent deer deterrents. Position them around the edge of your garden or flower beds to create a protective border. The strong scent of alliums repels deer, preventing them from invading the garden.
6. Delicious Culinary Herbs
Many alliums like garlic, onions, shallots, leeks, and chives are popular cooking ingredients. Their flavors enliven soups, stews, sauces, and more. Rather than buying them at the store, growing a selection of culinary alliums allows you to harvest farm-fresh alliums for kitchen use.
7. Unique, Architectural Forms
In addition to their pest control abilities, alliums add drama to the garden with their unique forms. The large, spherical blooms of ornamental onions make striking architectural statements in flower beds and borders. Varieties like ‘Millenium’ have sturdy tall stems that provide height and interest. Planting different allium varieties creates varied shapes, textures, and heights.
8. Long-Lasting Cut Flowers
The long-lasting flowers of alliums make them exceptional cut flowers. Place the striking blooms in bouquets and arrangements to enjoy indoors. Some of the best cutting alliums include ‘Purple Sensation’, ‘Globemaster’, and ‘Hair’. For best results, cut flowers after the lower portion of the flower head has opened, but before the topmost buds open.
9. Extend the Bloom Season
One of the best aspects of alliums is that they bloom at different times, unlike other bulbs that flower simultaneously. By planting early, mid, and late-season bloomers, you can create a continuous display of allium color in the garden from spring through early summer. Some varieties to try for prolonged bloom include ‘White Giant’, ‘Ambassador’, and ‘Gladiator’.
10. Easy to Naturalize
Many allium bulbs, including wild garlic and wild onions, readily self-seed and naturalize in the garden. Once established, they come back reliably year after year with little effort on your part. Naturalized alliums create beautiful spring-to-early summer displays.
Growing Alliums Successfully
Now that you know the many benefits of allium plants, let’s look at some key growing tips to help you cultivate them successfully:
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Soil prep: Alliums thrive in well-drained, fertile soil amended with compost. Good drainage is essential to prevent bulb rot.
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Sun exposure: Most alliums grow best in full sun. Some varieties tolerate partial shade.
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Planting time: Fall is the ideal planting time for allium bulbs in most regions. Early spring planting also works well.
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Planting depth: Large bulbs should be planted 4-8 inches deep. Smaller bulbs can be planted 2-4 inches deep.
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Spacing: Give bulbs enough space to allow for growth. Plant large varieties 6-8 inches apart. Cluster smaller bulbs 4-6 inches apart.
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Fertilizer: Use a balanced organic fertilizer when planting bulbs and occasionally during the growing season.
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Watering: Water well after planting and during growth. Reduce watering once bulbs start dying back.
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Mulching: Apply a 2-4 inch layer of mulch over plantings to retain moisture and reduce weeds.
An Essential Natural Solution
When incorporated thoughtfully into your landscape and gardening plans, alliums can solve many common garden problems safely and naturally. Offering pest control, pollinator power, beauty, and food production, allium plants are multipurpose workhorses in the garden. If you don’t already grow them, consider adding some allium bulbs this fall. Once established, you’ll enjoy their benefits for years to come.
Start With a Better Bulb
When you compare two allium bulbs side by side, it’s easy to see differences in quality. Larger bulbs (as shown at far left) contain more stored food energy and will produce stronger plants with bigger flowers. Longfield Gardens provides top size allium bulbs, so you can always enjoy the biggest, brightest blooms.
To see our complete selection of allium bulbs click HERE.
Sun or Shade: Alliums grow best in full sun, though most types will also tolerate partial shade.
Hardiness Zone: The bulbs are generally winter hardy in zones 3-8. To find your growing zone, refer to the USDA Hardiness Zone Map here.
Soil Conditions: Like most other bulbs, alliums need to be grown in well-drained soil that does not get soggy.
Where to Plant Alliums
Perennial Gardens: Most alliums bloom in late spring, along with the last tulips and just before irises and peonies. The flowers last for weeks and appear to hover over the garden like balloons. After flowering, both flowers and foliage fade away, allowing summer perennials to take center stage. Some of the best alliums for perennial gardens include Gladiator, Globemaster, Purple Sensation and Allium christophii.
Rock Gardens: Alliums are well-suited to rock gardens, where they thrive in the well-drained pockets between rocks. Choose species that are smaller in size, such as Allium flavum, Allium karataviense and Allium sikkimense.
Cutting Gardens: Alliums are excellent cut flowers. Their stiff stems make them easy to arrange, and the flowers are very long lasting. Planting alliums in a cutting garden will ensure you always have a plentiful supply of flowers for bouquets. Choosing several different types will give you flowers throughout the season. Good options include Purple Sensation, Allium atropurpureum, Mount Everest, Allium sphaerocephalon and Allium tuberosum.
Containers: Many alliums grow well in containers, either planted alone or mixed with in other plants. When they come into bloom, you can move the planter to a prominent spot where the flowers will be easy to admire.