While its display is dramatic there is one serious drawback to growing this plant.
What flower bulbs look like onions.
The rigid stalk penetrates the bulb and after harvest its early decay causes the entire onion to decay.
There are various common names for this ornamental onion but none refer to what is clearly its most striking feature.
They may look interesting even ornamental but they signal that something went wrong.
True bulbs such as daffodils tulips hyacinths and snowdrops often have a papery skin or tunic on the outside much like an onion.
All is not lost after an onion flowers.
The flower stems.
Bending over or cutting off the flower stalk won t re initiate bulb development.
The flower head and seed head look like fireworks exploding.
Make sure the plants will have enough cool nights to develop bulbs and cloves.
Timing and patience are most important in getting a good harvest from your garlic.
Once your onions bolt their bulbs stop growing and their storage capacity diminishes.
Schubert s allium is a spring flowering bulb with strap like foliage that is planted in the autumn.
Numerous flowers grow on in pointy clusters on showy stalks above the leaves.
Its small quarter inch cream or white colored flowers are six parted and the petals have a green heart shaped structure on them.
Unless you re growing onions allium cepa to collect their seeds you don t want want bulbs on their tops.
But also look out for signs of pests that are stunting growth.
Onions are biennial which means they ordinarily produce bulbs in their first year of growth then if left in the garden they flower and bear seed in their second year.
The bulbs look like onions but do not smell like onions.
They do best in well drained alkaline soil kept dry during their winter dormancy.
Larger bulbs capable of more than one blooming stem.
Overwintered dry in basement.
Nodding onion allium cernuum produces flopping mop heads of flowers in pretty shades of pink and purple.
This allium grows from rhizomes rather than forming bulbs and may be available in containers.
This is why it s important to let leaves of bulbs like tulips and daffodils remain and stay green until they naturally die back.
Nematodes cause tops to yellow prematurely and bulbs to deform while thrips show up as white spots on the leaves.
Some cultivars to look for include ozawa with larger purple flower heads and alba which has white cup shaped florets.
Bulbs with a papery covering are called tunicate bulbs the tunic helps protect the bulb from drying out when it s resting or waiting to be planted.