Allium 2010

[olegKon]

I believe this is Allium brachyscapum. Any confirmation?

[pel1]

Many thanks "TheOnionMan", both your suggestions seem to fit my plants,
James

[Lvandelft]

Mark,
Monday at the Weekly Flower Show Lisse I saw an entry of Allium for name identification.
It was send in as Allium praecox Brandegei from N. Am.

Can you tell me some more about this Allium?

[olegKon]

1. One of my favourites is Allium shelkovnikivii
2. Allium falcifolium developed

[TheOnionMan]

I believe this is Allium brachyscapum. Any confirmation?

Oleg, it is difficult to tell.  Have you compared to the photo in Janis Ruksans' book Burred Treasure?  In that photo, it is an overhead view, so hard to compare to your photo.  Based on the description in Flora of the USSR, it seems that your plant is not Allium brachyscapum.  The scape should be, per the name, exceedingly short, although I suppose under cultivation the scape might elongate some.  There are definite leaf characteristics to consider, so it would be good to see the leaves on your plant.  The umbel is supposed to be hemispherical and very dense, it looks spherical and not very dense in your plant. The filiaments look too short, should be slightly exceeding to twice as long as the tepals.  So, I'm not sure what you have there, it is a pretty allium, but my guess is that it is not A. brachyscapum.

Very nice Allium shelkovnikovii and falcifolium.

[TheOnionMan]

Mark,
Monday at the Weekly Flower Show Lisse I saw an entry of Allium for name identification.
It was send in as Allium praecox Brandegei from N. Am.

Can you tell me some more about this Allium?

Luit, the plant shown does not exactly match Allium praecox.  That species is from southernmost California and Baja California (Mexico).  It can be white flowered but is typically pink, with deep pink central nerves, and a white-pink-tinged to all pink ovary (not green).  Allium praecox has long been considered a variety of A. hyalinum (as A. hyalinum var. praecox) although Flora of North America considers the species separate now.  Here's a link to the USDA info and distribution map for A. praecox:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?mode=symbol&keywordquery=ALPR2

At the bottom of the USDA pages on any species, there is a CalPhotos link to images for that species. Or, on any American species, google the latin name appended with CalPhotos to get the same link to useful photos.  Bear in mind, like all web resources, sometimes there can be incorrectly identified photos, but generally speaking CalPhotos is fairly reliable. 
CalPhotos page with images of Allium praecox:
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Allium+praecox

I've grown Allium hyalinum, a beautiful species from central California and coastal mountain ranges, with white, often pink-tinged flowers that are shiny at the base of the petals.  It is not reliably hardy here in New England.  I have not grown A. praecox, all that I tried ended up being A. hyalinum, the "glassy onion".

The hard part about trying to identify North American Allium, is that about 1/2 of the listed 112 species occur in California... I have familiarity with only a handful of them.  They are often separated by finite details of bulb coat reticulations and other growth and floral minutiae, so it can be a challenge identifying them, particularly when the provenance of any plant requiring identification is not specified or known.

I do not know exactly what the species is that you posted, but my opinion is that it is NOT A. preacox based on the botanical descriptions and web images that I've found.

[olegKon]

Mark, thank you for explanations. Now I definitely see the allium is not brachyscapum. It is strikingly different from the picture in Janis Ruksans' book. Still it is a nice plant and the one I didn't have anyway.
Do you happen to have some experience in growing Allium falcifolium (at least that is true to the species)? Shall I keep it on the dry side in summer?

[TheOnionMan]

Do you happen to have some experience in growing Allium falcifolium (at least that is true to the species)? Shall I keep it on the dry side in summer?

Allium falcifolium is not difficult to grow outdoors if one can find the right balance of spring moisture, excellent drainage, and dryness while dormant.  It grew in my garden for years on a mildly sloped bed... with a base of clay soil, with a 6" (15 cm) layer of sharp sandy soil above, bulbs planted in the sandy soil, but the roots able to reach the moistuire-retentive clay layer below.  This seemed a good formula for western dryland Allium and Brodiaea and Triteleia.  Eventually however, I have lost many of the Alliums, I believe lost during exceptionally wet early springs... I should have had even better drainage... although the Trits still continue to do well.

Two MMcD photos: the first showing of a group of Allium platycaule in bud (love them falcate leaves), with flattened strongly "winged" stems, and two buds of Allium falcifolium just behind platycaule.  The second photo shows them at full flower, two few-flowered heads of A. falcifolium on the left, and many heads of the densely flowered A. platycaule on the right.  Allium falcifolium is not without its charm, but obviously A. platycaule is the one to grow    The plants in these photos lasted about 7 years, eventually swamped and eliminated by an aggressive Globularia.

The last photo shows a superb clump of a lighter pink flowered form of Allium platycaule growing in Panayoti Kelaidis' garden... he was envious of the deep color form on my former plants, but I'm equally envious of his skill bulking up the species into such a super fine clump.   The focus in Europe seems to be on all of the many Acanthoprasum section of Allium, with species such as beautiful A. shelkovnikovii commonly grown by bulb growers in their alpine houses, wheras these species are unheard of here in the USA.  However, there are western American species that can rival the central asian species in beauty for the rock garden.

[TheOnionMan]

Allium crenulatum is in flower.  The first photo shows a typical form, very pale flowered (and with few-flowered heads), but at late anthesis the drying tepals do age to a darker reddish-pink color.  It is barely visible in the garden.  The second photo is a selected form from the Olympic Mountains of Washington State, named A. crenulatum 'Olympic Sunset'.  This year the bulbs show that they've multiplied, so after flowering I should divide and replant.  The lighter green starfish rosette of narrow leaves in the top center of the photo, I have no idea what it is... hasn't flowered yet.

[christian pfalz]

hi, here an allium from today, in my garden...what´s the name ?

cheers
chris

[TheOnionMan]

hi, here an allium from today, in my garden...what´s the name ?
cheers
chris

Chris, it looks like Allium moly. The only look-alike species is A. scorzonerifolium, normally a bulbilliferous species with bulbils in the inflorescence, which is just finishing bloom here, but there is a form A. scorzonerifolium var. xericiense that has more flowers and no bulbils, looking moly-esque.  I think yours in A. moly based on what I can see of the foliage, mine are in bloom now too.

[PeterT]

I love the clump of A crenulatum 

[christian pfalz]

mark, thanks...
chris

[Lvandelft]

Mark,
Monday at the Weekly Flower Show Lisse I saw an entry of Allium for name identification.
It was send in as Allium praecox Brandegei from N. Am.

Can you tell me some more about this Allium?

Luit, the plant shown does not exactly match Allium praecox.  That species is from southernmost California and Baja California (Mexico).  It can be white flowered but is typically pink, with deep pink central nerves, and a white-pink-tinged to all pink ovary (not green).  Allium praecox has long been considered a variety of A. hyalinum (as A. hyalinum var. praecox) although Flora of North America considers the species separate now.  Here's a link to the USDA info and distribution map for A. praecox:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?mode=symbol&keywordquery=ALPR2

At the bottom of the USDA pages on any species, there is a CalPhotos link to images for that species. Or, on any American species, google the latin name appended with CalPhotos to get the same link to useful photos.  Bear in mind, like all web resources, sometimes there can be incorrectly identified photos, but generally speaking CalPhotos is fairly reliable. 
CalPhotos page with images of Allium praecox:
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Allium+praecox

I've grown Allium hyalinum, a beautiful species from central California and coastal mountain ranges, with white, often pink-tinged flowers that are shiny at the base of the petals.  It is not reliably hardy here in New England.  I have not grown A. praecox, all that I tried ended up being A. hyalinum, the "glassy onion".

The hard part about trying to identify North American Allium, is that about 1/2 of the listed 112 species occur in California... I have familiarity with only a handful of them.  They are often separated by finite details of bulb coat reticulations and other growth and floral minutiae, so it can be a challenge identifying them, particularly when the provenance of any plant requiring identification is not specified or known.

I do not know exactly what the species is that you posted, but my opinion is that it is NOT A. preacox based on the botanical descriptions and web images that I've found.

Thanks very much for this information Mark! Though I still believe it might well be a form of A. praexox, found by Wayne Roderick??
I’ll send you a PM.

[Diane Clement]

A few onions in my greenhouse

general view
A karataviense Ivory Queen grown from seed
A alexejanum - the leaves split as they emerged, I think it was a bit too dry at an early stage
A pallasii