Alliums in flower
Mary Sue Ittner (Fri, 26 May 2017 09:49:45 PDT)
On 5/26/2017 9:33 AM, Jane McGary wrote:
Allium campanulatum is a pretty plant, and I'm glad to hear Kathleen
got the right thing under this name. Once I grew (seed from Robinetts)
a very invasive one under that name. Allium expert Mark McDonough
suggested it may have been A. membranaceum. Fortunately it didn't
follow me to my present garden.
I believe the plant that Jane found to be invasive and she shared with
me is not A. membranaceum which is a lovely Allium that dwindled for me
over the years alas and is now gone, but Allium amplectens. Since that
one is found over a broad range of habitats and amounts of rainfall in
winter, it probably depends on where you live whether or not it would be
invasive and also on what clone you have. I don't think I'd do well with
seed of it from dry winter areas.
I've have really poor luck growing Alliums in the ground although this
year of abundant rainfall some of the Allium unifolium I've planted out
over the years are in flower. I remember seeing one in Southern
California at Rancho Santa Ana that was covering a large swatch of
ground and in flower, but it never made it in my ground. And in
containers over the years many other California species I have grown
have gradually disappeared (except for Allium unifolium which is native
to where I live) and Allium amplectens which has increased in
containers. I actually like A. amplectens because of it reliability.
Perhaps I need to try again to plant it out and see if it survives. I
would be happy if it increased in the ground, but given my previous
experience I would also be surprised.
Mary Sue
coastal Northern California
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