Alliums planting depth
Diane Whitehead (Sun, 19 Feb 2006 15:30:43 PST)

Pojar and MacKinnon's description of A. acuminatum says "small,
deeply-buried, grey-brown, egg-shaped bulb with a fibrous network on
the surface . . ." I have a dim memory of hikers tugging it out of a
hillside to eat, so it must sometimes grow shallowly. A number of
our bulbs do seed themselves in shallow soils that have accumulated
on bedrock, so perhaps that was the case.

A. crenulatum "on dry rocky outcrops, rock slides and gravelly
balds". Hmm - maybe that was what they were eating.

A. cernuum was marked during flower and then dug in August by members
of various tribes, which suggests they might grow at some depth,
though the ones that seed themselves in my yard have bulbs only .
... . ... . pause to run outside with a ruler and trowel . ... . ...
2 cm deep.

--
Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
maritime zone 8
cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually)
sandy soil