This year has brought more time spent in the garden and my yard. Let's just say the garden is my yard...I love these flowers called Alliums. I am learning there is quite a few types and the goal is to plant more of these pretty things all in due time. I am really quite thankful for the joy these flowers bring to me. I have pretty much worked from home as a realtor in my home office but like most people due to the Covid 19 I was longing for a break. Keeping my eyes on these flowers daily as they popped out of the ground was a sweet treat. Unlike my tulips and artichokes the deer leave these alone.

Pinball Wizard’ allium is a showstopper in any garden.

‘Pinball Wizard’ allium (Allium hybrid)

This standout cultivar has densely packed flowers, which are easy to see from a distance. Groups of three to five bulbs planted together really pop. ‘Pinball Wizard’ is a slightly smaller version of ‘Globemaster’, which grows a little taller — up to 36 in. If you’d like a similar look with white flowers, try ‘Mount Everest’ (A. stipitatum); it has 4- to 6-in. flowers on 24- to 36-in.-tall stems.

Type Bulb Blooms 6- to 8-in. lavender flowers in late spring Light Full sun Soil Well-drained Size 18 to 24 in. tall, 5 to 8 in. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 8

How to grow allium

Ornamental onions thrive in full sun and well-drained soil. Early alliums need moisture while growing, then dry soil the rest of the year. Later bloomers do well in a typical well-drained garden site. You can buy alliums as plants or bulbs. The onion family includes all sorts of ornamental bulbs for almost every garden situation. Plants are available spring to early summer, and that’s the time to plant and transplant them.

Plant allium bulbs in fall

The time to allium plant bulbs is fall and a stand-up bulb planter can make fast work at planting time. Here are some tips to get you started:

Planting tips

• Space allium bulbs at two to four times the bulb’s width and set them two to three times as deep as its diameter.
• For large alliums that’s about 8 to 10 inches apart and 6 inches deep.
• Smaller allium should be 3 to 4 inches apart and about 4 inches deep.
• After the soil freezes, mulch the new bulbs.
• Fertilize alliums in fall when roots begin to grow. Use an all-purpose bulb slow-release fertilizer that supplies nutrients throughout the growing season.

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