Allium 2013

[TheOnionMan]

Weitse, catching up here, your bright pink Allium paniculatum "var. minor" looks like one of the dwarf forms of Allium carinatum var. pulchellum.  There isn't a published "var. minor" for paniculatum, although this group is certainly difficult with so many closely allied species.  Whatever its true name, it's a bright and perky looking onion.

Your A. ampeloprasum selections are terrific, I particularly like the "fun" ones, 'Hairy Friend' and 'Green Drops'.

Stephen, the allium from Oregon, are you saying it's an Allium collected and native to Oregon, or from a gardener in Oregon. Allium stellatum doesn't get as far west as Oregon, although there are discrepancies in the Flora of North America distribution map and the USDA (remember on the USDA maps, if a species just crosses into a State, the entire state gets colored in their maps).
USDA:
http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ALST
FNA:
http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=8565&flora_id=1

Both maps are flawed; as State floras record this species as occuring in many more Eastern States than either map shows, and I have a microfiche (microfilm archive documents) printout from one of Marion Ownbey's student, a thesis study on some North American Allium alliances, and A. stellatum goes much further east than generally recorded.

The plant you show is really attractive, with those rounded almost hood-like outer tepals, and erect nearly-closed inner tepals. There are forms of Allium cernuum that show more stronger than other forms, the divergence between the outer and inner tepals. Allium cernuum that I collected among a cobblestone beach at Deception Pass, Whidbey Island, Washington, just above Pacific Ocean high tide, an unlikely spot to be sure, but the allium grew in great numbers, was a smallish form with the three outer tepals flaring outwards, and the three inner ones in the rounded cup shape. At first glance your Oregon plant looks like a stellatum x cernuum hybrid, but if it was collected wild, then it must be a form of cernuum.

Love the shy A. wallichii photo (and beautiful blue stenoden too), I can germinate wallichii (sometimes), but after planting them out, they never make it past the first year, I think I'm giving them spots that are too dry.

And here's a recent couple of interesting alliums, salvaged out of my 2-1/2 yr neglected Allium garden, salvage operation are scheduled for the autumn.  A few years back I started getting some hybrids with Allium cernuum (late flowered forms) and Allium stellatum, crossing with pulchellum. The hybrids inherit the deep pink or reddish coloration of the pedicels, and floret size is very small.  Here are a couple:

Putative Allium cernuum x pulchellum hybrid, intensely colored pedicels, tiny rounded deep-color florets, very slender to 14" tall, tiny bloom head only a little over an inch across (about 3 cm).  Four photos, views of the flowers in bright overcast day, then also in full sun, plus a view of the bulbs.






Next I'll show a variation on a theme, what I suspect is A. stellatum x pulchellum

[TheOnionMan]

Following up to my last post, this is a variation on a theme, a taller one, 16-18", which I would assign as A. stellatum x pulchellum (or possibly an Allium (stellatum x cernuum) x pulchellum cross) with starry flowers, and sideways deposed flower head similar to stellatum, and again, deep color pedicels.

[Oron Peri]

Two interesting Alliums,

First is Allium pyrenaicum of which i took a picture in its habitat in the Spanish Pyrenees last month.
It is a rare and endangered species found on the 'Red List'.

The second is a curious Allium which  is in bloom at the moment, probably closely related to A. cupani.
I have found it in Eastern Crete and so far haven't found any description of it.

[wmel]

Two interesting Alliums,
First is Allium pyrenaicum of which i took a picture in its habitat in the Spanish Pyrenees last month.
It is a rare and endangered species found on the 'Red List'.
The second is a curious Allium which  is in bloom at the moment, probably closely related to A. cupani.
I have found it in Eastern Crete and so far haven't found any description of it.

both very nice Alliums !

[Mark Griffiths]

Oron, looking at the one from Crete it looks as if it does something similar to Allium callimischon? ie dies back and the flowers come from the "dead" stalks? How tall is it?


as a general query to Allium growers, when is the best time to repot Allium callimischon haemostictum? I did mine the other day and didn't realise how fragile the connection between the flowering stalk and the bulb is and as a result lost at least one.

[wmel]

as a general query to Allium growers, when is the best time to repot Allium callimischon haemostictum? I did mine the other day and didn't realise how fragile the connection between the flowering stalk and the bulb is and as a result lost at least one.

when allium callimischon  blooms, the  bulb  is mature.
The flower and stem have no function anymore,  only for seed production.
In the coming period, the bulb will make new leafs.
So now is a good time to repot, but you can also do in in september or oktober

[Mark Griffiths]

hi, I didn't make myself clear, I broke the to stems which have the flower buds for this year.

So I'm asking what is the best time to repot so that I don't lose the flowers due in autumn?

[Oron Peri]

Oron, looking at the one from Crete it looks as if it does something similar to Allium callimischon? ie dies back and the flowers come from the "dead" stalks? How tall is it?

Mark,

Few species behave in this way in the Mediterranean, all flowering in late summer and early Autumn.
The species shown is 8-20cm with  tiny, slender, tubular flowers.
I grow both subsp. of A. callimischon, they look completely different and flower about 3 months later [October].

As for your question, you can repot your callimischon at any time but best time would be during summer when bulb is dormant.
It will not effect the buds as they receive nutrients from the bulb which is rootless at that time.

[TheOnionMan]

Oron, thanks for showing true Allium pyrenaicum, attractive and distinctive looking species.  Your Cretan onion, does look like it's in the "cupanii alliance", of which there are dozens of species, but for most of them its impossible to find any photos to help with ID. Charming little allium, love the shiny red color to the inside of the flared mouth of the florets.

My wife Sukey, has been very busy aiming her new DSLR camera at my Allium garden, photographing various insect pollinators, here's her latest one of a yellow butterfly on Allium senescens.

[Mark Griffiths]

thanks Oron!

[Rimmer de Vries]

This nice pink allium 10" tall August blooming came as A togashii in the NARGS? 2009-10 seed ex no. 149
I can find no reference for this plant. Any ideas?

[johnralphcarpenter]

This should help: http://e-monocot.org/taxon/urn:kew.org:wcs:taxon:296802

[TheOnionMan]

Rimmer, also be aware of some confusion on the species epithet, togasii versus togashii.  In Ohwi's Flora of Japan published in 1953, he lists the species as Allium togasii, although the actual published name by Hara (also 1953) is A. togashii.  Both "togasii" & "togashii" are valid species epithets for various plants.  Ohwi's listing in Flora of Japan is probably a typo.  I see from IPNI.org that Ohwi published another plant with his spelling, Potentilla togasii Ohwi in 1959.

[Rimmer de Vries]

Thanks Mark
i saw you have pictures of a similar plant on the PBS Wiki; however mine is taller 

[TheOnionMan]

In Flora of Japan, height is given as 10-25 cm, and flowering time of July.  I grew two forms, the smaller one 4"-6" (10 - 15 cm) flowered in August, then I had a taller form (to 16", 40 cm) that flowered in September.  I started getting seedlings that were averaging 8-10".  Years ago I lost the taller late-flowering form, and there might be a bulb or two left of the smaller form in my terribly neglected beds overtaken with weeds and tall field grass.  I distributed seed of this species for a number of years, so its frequently seen in the seedexs.