Allium 2011

[TheOnionMan]

What is the source of that form?

.

I got that one from Rannveig Wallace (Buried Treasure ) about ten years ago. I have a three pots full if anyone wants a few  later when it dies back.

Michael, do you get seed on that species?  If so, I would dearly love to try it, and mailing a pinch of seed is certainly easier than sending bulbs overseas.

[TheOnionMan]

I love the autumn alliums, and I'm happy to have found plants listed as Allium thunbergii alba at a local nursery this late summer, but in fact since it is such a small grower (about 3-4" tall, 7.5-10 cm) and fewer-flowered than most thunbergii forms, maybe this is a white form of Allium virgunculae instead.  After drenching rains for several days, the flowers look perfect today.

View of Allium "thunbergii" or virgulculae alba with Saxifraga fortunei blooming in the background:


Two closeup views showing the perky pure white flower clusters:





Still waiting for the tiny Allium virgunculae to open its flowers, now still in tight bud, with flower stems at about 2" (5 cm) tall.



A reliable old planting of Allium thunbergii 'Ozawa' planted at the base of a Magnolia tree.



Two views of a tall form of Allium thunbergii sent to me by a friend last year.

[Maggi Young]

Some great onions being shown here.... 

Note to self; keep eye open for seeds of autumn onions in the Seed Ex!

[Stephenb]

Stephen, nice seeing Allium ruprestre, I have never seen this species in person.  I like the green apices to each flower.  Is it fragrant, and is it actually flowering now? If so, I didn't know it was a fall bloomer.

Yes, it is flowering now. I'll give it a sniff tomorrow! Rupestre is the correct spelling isn't it?

Superb pictures, Mark!!

[TheOnionMan]

Stephen, nice seeing Allium ruprestre, I have never seen this species in person.  I like the green apices to each flower.  Is it fragrant, and is it actually flowering now? If so, I didn't know it was a fall bloomer.

Yes, it is flowering now. I'll give it a sniff tomorrow! Rupestre is the correct spelling isn't it?

Superb pictures, Mark!!

I went back and fixed my typo, yes of course, it is A. rupestre... I was hasty in my my posting!

[TheOnionMan]

Some great onions being shown here.... 

Note to self; keep eye open for seeds of autumn onions in the Seed Ex!

Often a difficult proposition, as the seed matures so late in the season, most years the pods succumb to fall/winter rains and snow and doesn't develop.  Only occasionally does seed set, although if grown in a greenhouse, there might be more chance for seed.

[Oron Peri]

Two late autumnal bloomers

A. autumnale - endemic to Cyprus
A. chamaespatum from E. Crete

[TheOnionMan]

Oron, are your growing these species, or are they photos of plants in the wild?

Recently when I was addressing a Pacific Bulb Society query looking for the identification of a yellow autumn blooming Allium from the Peloponnese, I started researching on google and found there are literally a couple dozen late summer to autumn blooming "species" in that general region of the world, many species named in the last 20 years, very interesting that there are so many of them.

[Oron Peri]

Mike
These are  growing in my collection from seeds collected by me in the wild.
I grow five species of autumnal Allium from the region and as far as i know there is only one more which is not yet named from N.W Syria and S. Turkey.
Kees Jan posted a photo of it last year.

[TheOnionMan]

Thanks Oron,

Here's a link to the message I posted to Pacific Bulb Society.  You'll note that I included a number of links back to the great photos you and Kees have posted on SRGC.  I listed 15 species which I believe are autumn bloomers in Greece and general Mediterranean region, although since some of the scientific texts are for purchase only (and expensive) I don't have detailed info on many of the species.
http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/pbs/2011-September/031388.html

[Oron Peri]

Thanks Mike
In the E. Mediterranean we consider species that bloom in October- November as Autumnal species.
Species that bloom until August are considered as summer bloomers.
Usually, [depends on rain] there is a period of about two months in between where there aren't any allium in flower.
So i think some of the species mentioned in the list are considered to be summer bloomers and not autumnal.

There are a few similar forms/species from the different Islands, all resemble A. tardans and i suppose there is a need of farther research.

[TheOnionMan]

I'm not including species that bloom until August, but rather include species that might start in late summer. But depending on geographical provenance, form or variety, and cultural conditions, ones such as Allium callimischon (I grow ssp. callimischon), which might start in late August but typically flowers in September or even October.

I was gathering up a bunch of links to some of the newer Grecian/Mediterranean allium species, here's a few links to autumn blooming species... I'll have to re-find more of the links I gathered one day, can't put my finger on all of them at the moment.

Allium brussalisii
http://www.mendeley.com/research/allium-brussalisii-alliaceae-a-new-species-from-greece/

Good PDF on Allium ritsii and other species.  Here there is discussion on not only other early autumn bloomers, but some late flowering taxa (August-September) such as A. eivissanum and A. pentadaktyli.
http://www.landesmuseum.at/pdf_frei_remote/PHY_35_2_0247-0253.pdf

another good PDF on Allium apolloniensis (October blooming), and mention of three other fall species; Allium platakisii, Allium archeotrichon, and Allium aegilicum.  The publishing authors call these plants "autumn blooming".
http://www.bgbm.org/willdenowia/w-pdf/wi36-1Biel+al.pdf

As I mention in the Pacific Bulb Society message, maybe the taxonomists are splitting hairs or they're slicing their onions too thinly, many species do seem similar.

[Stephenb]

Mark: I do believe you are making up Allium names on the fly. How else could there be 8 Allium species in one post I've never heard of before

[TheOnionMan]

Mark: I do believe you are making up Allium names on the fly. How else could there be 8 Allium species in one post I've never heard of before

And there are dozens more too!

As I said, I think they slice their onions very thinly in that part of the world

[TheOnionMan]

Not a fall bloomer, but a PDF with good line drawings describing another Greek allium species, A. samothracicum, one that blooms in June-July.  Described in 2000.  There are oodles of recent-ish Grecian species.
http://curis.ku.dk/ws/files/17109870/ALLIUM_SAMOTHRACICUM_TZANOUD.pdf