ALLIUMS have come a long way since the 1990s, when every May saw Purple Sensation drifted underneath countless laburnum tunnels. They have remained popular thanks to their immaculate sense of timing, flowering in May or June when colour is scant, before the summer perennials and roses really get going. That’s not all, either: their bee-friendly flowers provide a crisp contrast to green foliage whether in flower border, potager or fruit garden.
Many also offer a tall, vertical presence and all provide interesting seedheads. Better still, they endure and increase from year to year, whether you’re using them as a follow-up act to tulips or as a summer preamble.
The only downside can be their eagerness to self-seed. Recently, however, Dutch breeders have been busy raising sterile, non-seeding forms in a variety of heights and colours— good news, because sterile flowers persist far longer and there are no nuisance self-seeders, but, happily, are equally as popular with bees and butterflies. As ever, if you want the best kinds, this is the time to order.
Alan Street of Avon Bulbs helped to judge the recent Large Allium Trial at RHS Wisley (2014–16). He is the creative talent behind Avon Bulbs and was responsible for putting together 31 Gold Medal-winning displays at the Chelsea Flower Show between 1980 and 2017
l Allium tripedale (syn. Nectaroscordum tripedale)
This species bulb, listed under both names, has rubbery stems topped with elegant clusters of outward-facing, rose-pink flowers in April and early May. These fade to parchment by midsummer. It’s truly perennial, although it increases rather slowly. Height: 4ft
Allium cristophii AGM
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
