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Home Page » Home & Garden » Gardening » Drumstick allium: Allium sphaerocephalum

Drumstick allium: Allium sphaerocephalum

Other common names: roundheaded leek, ornamental onion

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Drumstick allium: Allium sphaerocephalum

In summer the roundheaded leek bears small, star-shaped, reddish-purple flowers in small, dense, egg-shaped heads. The flowers return year after year, and the plants multiply, spreading naturally over time. For centuries Siberians have cultivated this attractive flowering onion for food.

Profile

Plant typebulb
Hardiness zones5 to 8
Lightfull-sun
Height2 ft.6 in. to 2 ft.
Habitupright
Bloom timesummer
Flower colormagenta
Bloom size1 in. to 1 in.
Foliage colormedium-green

did you know?

Ornamental onions are cousins to such edibles as onions, garlic, chives, and shallots, though few give off any significant onion odor to detract from their beauty; the pungent aroma characteristic of the genus is usually obvious only if you tear a leaf.

general maintenance:

To encourage the plants to store nutrients for next year's bloom rather than produce seeds, deadhead spent flower heads.

how to sow/plant:

Plant in fall, about 6 weeks before the ground freezes. Set bulbs 3 inches deep and 3 inches apart. There is no need to water or fertilize upon planting.

water and fertilize:

Monitor soil moisture all season. If desired, feed with an all-purpose bulb fertilizer as shoots emerge in spring and again after bloom.

garden hint:

Ornamental onions are good news for gardeners who have lost other plants to animals; because of their taste, they are usually left alone by rabbits and deer.

features:

  • Attractive Flowers
  • Attractive Foliage
  • Deer Resistant
  • Fragrant

garden uses:

  • Flowerbed borders
  • Naturalizing

other uses:

  • Culinary/Edible (bulbs)
  • Cut Flower
  • Everlasting (>)

combine with:

'Powis Castle,' or other gray-leaved foliage, or white phlox or gray-leaved cardoons

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