Allium: planting and care in the open field, types and varieties of ornamental onions with a photo

Decorative bow Allium will become the center of any flower bed or garden composition. Round, multi-colored inflorescences of the plant, combined with other flowers, allow you to create unique design solutions for gardens and home gardens. Allium is a completely unpretentious culture, so planting and further caring for it in the open field is available even to novice flower growers and gardeners.

Description and features

The Allium plant belongs to the Amaryllis family, and the closest relatives of this ornamental flower are garlic and common onions.From his unusual pedigree, Allium inherited the sharp smell of onions and the bitter taste of garlic. Since the plant is unpretentious, it naturally occurs in different climatic zones.

Key features:

The herbaceous stem is thick. Some varieties grow up to 1.5-2 meters.
The leaves are elongated, feather-shaped. As soon as the flowering phase ends, they wither.
Inflorescences with small flowers, have a spherical shape. In some varieties of ornamental onions, inflorescence caps reach sizes up to 30-35 cm in diameter.
Long flowering. The beginning of the active flowering phase occurs at the beginning of summer, and ends at the end of August.
There are late varieties of the crop that do not lose their decorative properties even in autumn.

Florists and landscapers often use different varieties of ornamental onions to decorate unusual garden beds and arrangements.

Views

The Allium perennial decorative onion is divided into types and varieties that differ in size, shades of inflorescences and differences in flowering time.

Roundhead

This type of culture is characterized by small size and late flowering. Oval-shaped inflorescences with a diameter of no more than 3 cm. The flowers are small, burgundy or pink, bloom in early August.

Yellow

The maximum height of the yellow ornamental onion is 40 cm, the inflorescences are loose, up to 10 cm in diameter, with yellow bell-shaped flowers.

Roseum

The type of decorative culture Roseum differs from its counterparts in unusual pink flowers, similar to roses. Plant height from 60 to 80 cm. The active phase of flowering begins in June and continues until the end of summer.

Cernuum

This kind of culture is often used for culinary purposes. The plant is up to 50 cm tall, the inflorescences are loose, inclined down, with white or pinkish flowers.

The flowering phase begins in July. The young leaves of the plant are used as food.

Sicilium

A tall type of Allium, will grow up to 130 cm. The inflorescences are large, with large bell-shaped flowers in pink and cream shades.

Giant

Allium Giganteum blooms in late spring. Plant height reaches 1.5-1.7 m. Inflorescences are large and dense, purple and lilac shades, up to 15 cm in diameter. The flowers are small, star-shaped.

City-loving

Short type of culture will grow to a maximum of 20 cm. The inflorescences are loose, with bell-shaped flowers in purple and pink hues. It enters the phase of active flowering at the end of May. The flowering period is short, only 20-24 days.

Tilted

The type of ornamental onion is also suitable for food. The plant came to our continent from North America. The species is distinguished by thin long leaves. Inflorescences loose, inclined to the ground, flowers of pink and beige shades. Blooms in July.

Bulgarian

Allium of this species blooms in early summer. Plant height up to 1 m, large inflorescences, with bright purple flowers.

Popular varieties

Decorative bow differs not only in species, but also in varieties that have different decorative properties.

Sicilian

Tall cultivar with large bell-shaped flowers. The plant is attractive to bees, which is why it is called honey garlic.

Blue, white

Tall peduncles with small blue or white inflorescences, with small bell-shaped flowers.

Christopher

A tall ornamental onion native to Persia. Large, spherical inflorescences up to 25 cm in diameter, bloom with small flowers in the form of stars. After the flowering period, the inflorescences do not crumble, but dry up on the peduncle, which allows them to be used for decoration at any time of the year.

Moths

Allium variety Moli is a frequent resident of gardens and home gardens. The plant grows small, up to 25 cm, the inflorescences are loose, with yellow large flowers in the form of stars that bloom at the end of May.

Gladiator

Gladiator variety has not only decorative properties, but is also used for food. Plant height is from 80 to 100 cm, purple inflorescences are dense - up to 20 cm in diameter. Allium Gladiator is a whimsical plant in care, therefore it requires additional attention.

Purple Sensation

Frost-resistant type of ornamental onion with large, bright inflorescences. Plant height up to 1.5 m, inflorescences 12-14 cm in diameter, with small flowers in the form of stars of bright purple hues.

Ivory Queen

With a small growth of 30-35 cm, this variety of ornamental culture has large inflorescences up to 12 cm. It blooms in mid-summer with white and beige flowers. The leaves are wide, elongated, have an unusual green-blue tint.

Mount Everest

A tall variety of Allium, grows up to 120 cm. Spherical inflorescences up to 25 cm in diameter, with white flowers in the form of stars.

Eros

Spherical large inflorescences with beautiful bell-shaped flowers of lilac, purple and pink shades. Plant height up to 35 cm, inflorescence diameter 8-10 cm, active flowering phase occurs in June.

Hair

The most unusual variety of decorative bow with purple buds, reminiscent of a tousled hairstyle. Active flowering occurs at the end of spring and lasts about a month.

Goliath

Allium Goliath grows up to 100 cm. The inflorescences are large, dense up to 25 cm in diameter, the flowers are small, in the form of purple and lilac asterisks.

Sativum

In addition to decorative properties, the Sativum variety also has a culinary purpose, because the plant is similar in taste and structure to ordinary garlic. Small inflorescences bloom with small white flowers that turn gray as they bloom.

Growing

Ornamental onion is a plant that does not require special care and cultivation skills. Therefore, even a novice florist or gardener will cope with a decorative culture.

Allium is resistant to frost and is distinguished by its vitality, but there are some rules without which the flower will grow frail and ugly.

Selecting and preparing a site

A well-lit place is chosen for planting flowers. The plant loves sunlight, the more it is, the better it develops.

How to choose a plot

Allium does not tolerate excess moisture, so the lowlands are not suitable for its landing. Shady corners of the garden are also not suitable for its growth.

Ground requirements

Although the decorative culture is not demanding for care, it loves loose and fertile soils. Soil with a high acid content, mixed with lime before planting flowers.

Best neighbors

When Allium fades, its decorative properties are lost. Therefore, the best neighbors for this plant will be crops with beautiful decorative foliage that covers the yellowing and drying leaves of flowers.

Peonies, roses or irises will also be good neighbors for Allium.

How to plant from seeds

After flowering, Allium seeds are formed, which are collected and planted in open ground. The timing of planting flowers in this way can be in early spring or autumn. Most cultivars germinate in spring. Young shoots must stop.

Important! Some varieties of crops give the first shoots after a few years.

Vegetative propagation

There are several ways to propagate Allium vegetatively.

Daughter bulbs

Babies form on the bulbs of adult plants. They are carefully separated from the mother plant and seated. On the bulb of an adult flower, up to 3 small bulbs are formed.

Bulbs

Gardeners and flower growers with great experience propagate the plant with bulbs.After the culture has finished flowering, its head is carefully cut off and treated with a special solution that stimulates growth. Next, the heads are planted in the ground. This method allows you to get he althy flowers that retain all their decorative qualities.

Planting bulbs

For planting bulbs in open ground, the autumn season is most suitable. Bulbs are carefully examined, planting material with traces of mold or rot is disinfected in a solution of manganese. If most of the bulb is damaged, it is thrown away.

The planting holes are dug in advance. Each hole does not exceed 10 cm deep. Bulbs are placed in the holes, sprinkled with earth and carefully watered.

The distance between flowers depends on their size. The taller and larger the plant, the greater the gap left between plantings.

Care

Care of a crop depends on the climatic conditions of the region where it grows.

Irrigation

Ornamental onion does not tolerate waterlogging of the soil. If the plant is constantly flooded, it will lead to its death.

In drought and heat, the soil should not dry out, otherwise the culture will stop growing and lose its decorative properties. Important! For the growth and development of Allium, it is necessary to find the right balance of soil moisture.

Feeding

In early spring, decorative onions are fed with fertilizers containing nitrogen and potassium. Such procedures are carried out to give a more decorative look to the plant.

Diseases and pests

In the process of growing ornamental crops, gardeners are faced with various pests and diseases that slow down the development of plants or lead to their death.

Neck rot

Allium bulbs can be affected by neck rot during storage violations. For prevention, the seed is dug up and heated at a temperature of 48 degrees from 10 to 12 hours.

Downy mildew

Danger to the plant is downy mildew. To prevent the development of the disease, before planting, the bulbs are heated at a temperature of 40 degrees.

Tobacco thrips

The pest sucks out all the juices from the plant, which leads, if not to the death of the flower, then to a strong weakening and loss of decorative qualities. To remove them, preparations of the insecticide group are used.

Onion fly

To avoid infecting flowers with an onion fly, you can use the early planting of bulbs in open ground. But if infection could not be avoided, then the plant is treated with special preparations or saline.

Loosening and weeding

For proper growth and development, flower beds with Allium are weeded and loosened. Before the winter cold and in the spring they are mulched.

Important! The yellowed and dried leaves help the onion to accumulate the nutrients necessary for wintering and growth for the next year. Therefore, try to avoid breaking dried leaves from Allium.

Collection and storage of bulbs

In regions with harsh, cold winters, decorative onion bulbs need to be dug up and sent for wintering in a warm place. To do this, peat mixture or moistened sand is poured into the container. Bulbs are laid in it, and sent for wintering at a temperature of +15 to +18 degrees.

How to choose a variety

When choosing a variety of ornamental onions, it is necessary to take into account its decorative properties and flowering time. Professional flower growers select plant varieties in such a way that beautiful flowers adorn home gardens from early spring to late autumn.

Application in landscape design

The unusual appearance and variety of shades of Allium determines its decorative purpose in landscape design.

Flowerbeds

Culture is great for planting in flower beds and flower beds. To do this, the order of flowering of different varieties of Allium and the height of plants are selected.

In the garden

In large home gardens and gardens, ornamental bows are used to decorate alpine landscapes of rocky gardens

Reviews

Liliya Sergeevna, Egorievsk

No one remembers how and when they planted the allium on the plot. It just grows and blooms in our flower bed. Sometimes we water it.

We do not dig out for the winter and do not even cover it. Beautiful and unpretentious flower. I recommend to all gardeners and summer residents.

Irina, Leningrad region

The blue allium has finally bloomed this year, it's very beautiful. At first they tried to plant seeds, but it did not work out. We bought bulbs, and now we are enjoying the beautiful views of the flower.

Eugene, Moscow Region

This year the gladiator blossomed for the first time. Just a lot of impressions. All the neighbors ran to me and asked where I got such a handsome man from. Large flowers and bold, broad foliage.