16 Top Alliums for Your Garden
Alliums are some of the most versatile bulbs for the spring and summer garden. Add interest to your landscape with these top varieties.
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This variety is a showstopper thanks to its 3-inch-wide globes of rich purple flowers.
Name: Allium 'Purple Sensation'
Bloom Season: Late spring to early summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 4-9
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: It's one of the deepest-colored alliums.
It's tough to have a favorite allium, but we think this is one of the best. It offers sky-blue blooms in a 2-inch-wide head and helps bridge the gap between spring bulbs and summer perennials.
Name: Allium caeruleum
Bloom Season: Late spring to early summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 2 feet tall
Zones: 4-9
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: For its sky-blue color.
As useful in the garden as they are in the kitchen, chives offer little purple blooms that taste as delectable as the leaves.
Name: Allium schoenoprasum
Bloom Season: Mid to late spring
Growing Conditions: Sun or shade and well-drained soil
Size: To 18 inches tall
Zones: 3-9
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: It's cute and tastes great.
To gardeners used to the big purple types, this may not even seem like an allium. A delicate-looking rock-garden species, it offers little clusters of golden-yellow blooms.
Name: Allium moly
Bloom Season: Late spring to early summer
Growing Conditions: Sun or shade and well-drained soil
Size: To 8 inches tall
Zones: 3-9
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: It's highly adaptable and has great color.
An elegant selection, Allium cristophii offers star-shape blooms in silver pink on an 8-inch-wide head. It's especially nice as a dried flower.
Name: Allium cristophii
Bloom Season: Late spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 2 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: It has large heads and a very distinctive look.
One of the largest selections, 'Globemaster' heads can be bigger than a softball.
Name: Allium 'Globemaster'
Bloom Season: Late spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 4 feet tall
Zones: 5-10
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: The huge, reddish-purple blooms look great in the garden. They often last longer than other alliums.
This variety offers leaves that look as good as the flowers. It offers pale pink globes to 3 inches across that hang over the lovely gray-green leaves.
Name: Allium karataviense
Bloom Season: Late spring to early summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 1 foot tall
Zones: 5-9
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: It has great foliage to go along with the cute flowers.
A charming little rock-garden allium, this species offers cute pink blooms in 1-inch-wide heads.
Name: Allium oreophilum
Bloom Season: Late spring
Growing Conditions: Sun or shade and well-drained soil
Size: To 8 inches tall
Zones: 4-9
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: It's highly adaptable and fits well in nearly any garden because of its dwarf size.
An uncommon selection, Allium triquetrum offers nodding clusters of white flowers on golf-ball-sized heads.
Name: Allium triquetrum
Bloom Season: Late spring
Growing Conditions: Sun or shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 18 inches tall
Zones: 3-8
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: It's an uncommon, carefree beauty that's great for naturalizing in borders or woodland gardens.
An especially long-blooming selection, 'Millennium' fills the late-summer garden with lavender color. The 2-inch-wide heads float above a mound of glossy green foliage.
Name: Allium 'Millennium'
Bloom Season: Late summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 1 foot tall
Zones: 5-8
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: The great performance and long bloom season.
Another edible allium for the garden, garlic chives bloom late in the season and produce clusters of white flowers. Note: This can self-seed rapidly, so deadhead it to prevent a host of unwanted seedlings.
Name: Allium tuberosum
Bloom Season: Late summer
Growing Conditions: Sun or shade and well-drained soil
Size: To 2 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: It's great for cooking with.
A charming summertime bloomer (it looks great with lilies), drumstick allium produces egg-sized heads in a rich purple color.
Name: Allium sphaerocephalon
Bloom Season: Early to midsummer
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 3-10
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: It's a no-brainer to grow and adds great texture to the summer garden.
Love it or hate it, 'Hair' is definitely... unique. It produces a stalk with purple bulbils, each with a set of leaves growing out of them.
Name: Allium 'Hair'
Bloom Season: Late spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 2 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: It's a great conversation piece.
One of the most common types, this winner offers dense globes to 4 inches wide of pink-purple flowers.
Name: Allium aflatunense
Bloom Season: Late spring or early summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 4-9
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: It's a reliable, showy variety. It makes a great focal point in the garden.
As majestic as its namesake, 'Mount Everest' offers big baseball-size heads of shimmering white flowers on tall stems.
Name: Allium 'Mount Everest'
Bloom Season: Late spring or early summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 3 feet tall
Zones: 3-8
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: The large white blooms look great in summer.
Though technically not an allium, this close relative is often sold as one. It blooms with bell-shaped flowers offering reddish-purple markings.
Name: Nectaroscordum siculum
Bloom Season: Late spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil
Size: To 4 feet tall
Zones: 5-10
Native to North America: No
Why We Love It: It's a highly unique and ornamental selection.
