----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark McDonough" <antennaria@charter.net> To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 6:43 PM Subject: [pbs] Allium atropurpureum > Hello Steve in scorching Delaware, > > Something sounds amiss with your "Allium atropurpureum". > >> I bought a pot of Allium atropurpureum... It has just finished with >> producing >> some seed. I ... noticed that one of the flower stalks was down. Closer >> inspection revealed about 17 bazillion ... little bulblets. ...how badly >> invasive is this plant? Shall I get it out of the garden fast, or does >> it >> remain more or less in one place with just occasional escapees? > > Allium atropurpureum is a member of the Melanocrommyum section of Allium > (think of the big ball type, Allium giganteum, A. 'Globe Master', A. > hollandicum 'Purple Sensation', etc.). Allium atropurpureum comes from > parts of Europe, to Turkey, to Siberia, and is related to Allium nigrum > and the true A. cyrillii (not A. cyrillii as most often distributed in > Hort). All alliums in this section take 5-6 years to flower from seed. > When the seed falls, a winter cold period is required before germination. > They are NOT bulbiliferous species that produce bulbils in the flower head > which can sprout as soon as they hit the soil. My guess is, you do not > have the true A. atropurpureum, but have a weedy imposter instead, because > to me it seems highly unlikely that there would be any sprouting bulblets > at all from that species. I'm not that far from Delaware, being in > Massachusetts, and I find this species slow and actually difficult to keep > going (and yes, it is blazing hot here these d > ays too;-). > > Do you have any photos of your plant that you can share? If you don't > have a place to upload them, forward some to me and I can post them on my > website and supply links to further this conversation and plant ID. > Here's what mine looks like, photo taken 05-30-2010: > The stem is about 3' tall. > http://plantbuzz.com/misc/… > > here's what the seed pod looks like, taken today, not ripe yet, there are > no bulbils, never seen bulbils nor proliferating bulblets on this species: > http://plantbuzz.com/misc/… > > Regarding invasive alliums, sure there are a few bad ones that can > proliferate too much, but given a genus of nearly 1000 species, don't let > a few bad ones completely put you off this fun, ornamental, and most > worthy genus, there are many excellent species. Be cautious of advice > from alliumphobes who have abolished the entire genus because of a couple > poor Allium choices. > > I recommend taking a broader view of plant invasiveness versus weediness. > I grow hundreds upon hundreds of different Allium, and can honestly say, > my Allium garden has not gotten out of control, there are no > uncontrollable thugs... I was careful to avoid a few known weedy types, > although still working on getting rid of A. tuberosum, a thug which seeds > about too enthusiastically. > > However, there are whole parts of my yard, my woods, my lawn, forever > taken over by and lost to Campanula takesimana, one of the most beautiful > yet horrible weeds out there. Campanula punctata was nearly as bad, but > can't withstand drought, and I finally eradicated it after about 10 years > trying. But C. takesimana is taking over my property, and escaping to the > neighboring woods and street edges. Do I shun the entire genus Campanula > because of these two most horrible of horrible thugs? No, surely there are > good Campanula species too. On a positive note, there's a chance that > Campanula takesimana might prove to be an effective competitor and control > against poison ivy ;-) > > Here are some links to Campanula takesimana taken on my property today: > http://plantbuzz.com/misc/… > http://plantbuzz.com/misc/… > http://plantbuzz.com/misc/… > http://plantbuzz.com/misc/… > http://plantbuzz.com/misc/… > Don't be fooled by the pretty looks of this siren beauty, many nurseries > carry it and many named color forms; avoid it like the plague. > > Mark McDonough > Massachusetts, USA, near the New Hampshire border, USDA Zone 5 > antennaria@charter.net > http://www.plantbuzz.com/ > > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/
