Decorative bows are able to decorate any garden. Alliums can be used in the design of rabatok, rock gardens, lawns. They are relatively unpretentious, but the beauty is not inferior to other inhabitants of the garden. They are good for cutting and as dried flowers. There are several hundred types of decorative bows. Allium leaves and stems exude the unmistakable smell of these plants.
Flowering period: May-June, but there are autumn-flowering specimens. The leaves of the onions are linear and basal, the flowers are small. The inflorescence gives the main decorative effect to allium: most often in the form of a ball, sometimes a beam-like umbrella.
Allium planting
A place for allium pick up the sun, the soil moisture should be normal. There are three ways to plant Allium:
Seeds
They are sown in spring or autumn. It should be remembered that some seed-grown onions bloom only for 3-7 years, when the bulbs become large enough to bloom.
Daughter bulbs
The main bulb forms babies, they are separated (best of all – in the fall) and planted separately. If you grew a maternal bulb from seeds, then it will give babies from the third year of life.
Bulbs
Bulb retains all the signs of the mother plant: the height and color saturation. True, not all species form bulbs after flowering.
Allium Care
Alliums will not deliver much trouble to the florist:
- weeding, loosening, mulching;
- top dressing: in the spring – complex mineral fertilizer with the high content of nitrogen; in the fall – phosphorus-potassium;
- watering moderate: it is best to water when it is clearly visible that the plant needs moisture;
- It is advisable to dig out the bulbs after the leaves have dried out (in the ground, especially in a rainy cold summer, there is a high risk of their rotting) and plant them again in the fall. Store the bulbs at room temperature in a dry ventilated room.
Types and varieties of Allium
Allium aflatunense. Height – 120-150 cm, diameter of inflorescence – 10-12 cm. Frost-resistant.
Allium schubertii – a decorative look with original buds. Blooms in June. Good for making dry bouquets.
Allium stipitatum with long, strong peduncles that can grow up to 120 cm. The leaves are long, wide (up to 4 cm). The diameter of the inflorescence reaches 8 cm.
Allium sphaerocephalon L looks especially impressive when planted in large groups. Looks good with perennial herbs and between fruit trees. Gardeners of England use this technique.