Allium 2012

[TheOnionMan]

About 5 years ago, I was given some seedlings from a variegated form of Allium nutans.  Some were all green, others had some variegation, while one was nearly totally white-leaved.  The most boldly variegated one was a weak grower and eventually died, but I do have one that shows some fairly strong variegation, and has finally got to a large enough size to start dividing.  Not sure if this clump is from just one seedling or several grown in together; the variegation is stronger on some leaves more than others.  The flowers are ugly, an insipid few-flowered affair, but the leaf variagation might prove useful for hybridization.

Taken 4-7-2012, Allium nutans "variegated form".




Along similar lines, Darrell Probst found a number of purple-striated leaf forms of Allium tricoccum in the woods of central Massachusetts, he shared a couple bulbs with me.  They just came up a couple days ago.

[Stephenb]

Thanks for showing, Mark! Both very desirable plants!

[wmel]

Thanks Weitse for explaining, that's quite an operation, and lots of work.  The box full of A. tschimganicum bulbs look like little coctail onions   When you plant them out, do you just "broadcast" the little bulblets in a planting bed, or use some sort of planting machine?  I can't imagine that you would actually go to the trouble of planting the bulbs right-side-up, the little bulbs will probably "right" themselves as they increase in size.

By comparison, it makes my my simple seed sowing quite easy and manageable, particularly when I do a little bit of seed "sowing-in-place".

Here are some seed flats full of germinating Allium, thanks so much Wietse!
Allium tuncelianum and macranthum:

All bulbs (small and big) are re-planted between the last week of september and half oktober. We tryed a lot of different systems for planting with al kinds of self-made machines, but the last years we have build the right machine (for us). I post some photo's of planting. Now al our bulbs are planted with this machine. We plant 2 rows on 1.5 meters ( as wide as the tractor)
All bulbs we lay in the ground by hand, the big bulbs one by one right-side-up, but for small bulbs there is no need to do so. They know to find there way up.....

Mark; your allium seeds grow very well as I see in your photo's!, What kind of soil do you use to sow the seeds in??
My seeds of tuncelianum and macranthum are also growing well, and also seeds from the white form of macranthum!!
seeds from allium plumerae, campanulatum, stellatum, cardiostemon, giganteum and schubertii are not germinated yet
I think I have lost about 10-15 alliums because of the frost last winter, I make a list of alliums later for other people so they know this alliums need protection against frost.

[TheOnionMan]

Mark; your allium seeds grow very well as I see in your photo's!, What kind of soil do you use to sow the seeds in??
My seeds of tuncelianum and macranthum are also growing well, and also seeds from the white form of macranthum!!
seeds from allium plumerae, campanulatum, stellatum, cardiostemon, giganteum and schubertii are not germinated yet
I think I have lost about 10-15 alliums because of the frost last winter, I make a list of alliums later for other people so they know this alliums need protection against frost.

Wietse, that is one impressive operation   It really makes me think, seeing your operations, that there should be no excuse for me to lose so many Allium species over time, but I do.  If one is using longs beds "bulb management beds" that are annually or bi-annually dig up and replenished, it's a whole other aspect of garden.  When I build a new bed, it simply gets filled up right away, or overfilled, the intention being that what gets planted, needs to stay there.  But growing on lots of seed certainly makes sense... wish I had not lost so many wonderful Allium that I had from places like Kew or ones collected by Arnis Seisums and shared with me, plants that are now mere memories.

Regarding seed sowing mixes, I don't use anything fancy, just garden soil mixed 50-50 with sand.  I do now top dress with decomposed shredded pink bark mulch, seems to work well on many items.

Sorry to hear of some Allium losses, it seems inevitable with the vagaries of winter/spring weather that one has some losses each year, but it's still always a blow to lose things one is trying hard to grow.

[wmel]

About 5 years ago, I was given some seedlings from a variegated form of Allium nutans.  Some were all green, others had some variegation, while one was nearly totally white-leaved.  The most boldly variegated one was a weak grower and eventually died, but I do have one that shows some fairly strong variegation, and has finally got to a large enough size to start dividing.  Not sure if this clump is from just one seedling or several grown in together; the variegation is stronger on some leaves more than others.  The flowers are ugly, an insipid few-flowered affair, but the leaf variagation might prove useful for hybridization.
[

I was walking in my 4-year old seedlings from christopii and found 2 different varigated plants, never seen them before !?, and also never found some in other alliums. (We did find a lot of varigated plants in our tulips)

[TheOnionMan]

I was walking in my 4-year old seedlings from christopii and found 2 different varigated plants, never seen them before !?, and also never found some in other alliums. (We did find a lot of varigated plants in our tulips)

Cool, does it propagate?

[wmel]

Cool, does it propagate?

Last year "Before" they were variegated, they did propagate very good. this alliums came from crossing christopii and atropurpureum.

[TheOnionMan]

Weitse, I hope your variegated hybrids remain stable and one day can be introduced.

An updated photo of the purple-striped version of Allium tricoccum, and in the background, a form of A. listera that Darrell Probst collected in China; this form sprouts about 2 weeks earlier and is green leaved versus another clone that Darrell collected that emerges a striking dark ruddy reddish-brown color initially then changes to green.  The latter clone just showed its brown nose yesterday; phew, I was getting worried that it would be a "no show".




In the past I lamented how a single plant of Allium tricoccum that I planted in some dry woods in the lower portion of my property, had never increased in all the years I have been at my current property (25 years).  The area where it is planted is overgrown and left as wild woodland, beyond the reach of water hoses.  Last year, while traipsing through thickets of overgrowth, to my surprise discovered that the "ramps" finally established themselves after a couple of decades, making nice clumps and with evidence it was seeding around.  I cleared some of the brush from the area.  Here are a couple recent photos.  Last year I never caught them in bloom, will try to catch them in flower this year.



   

[wmel]

some photos taken today

[Maggi Young]

Weitse, I would scarcely be believing this rate of growth if it were not for the photographic evidence. 

[wmel]

Weitse, I would scarcely be believing this rate of growth if it were not for the photographic evidence. 

sinds I was about 12 years old I started collecting alliums, but it is becauce it became my work/living I have so much of it.
We are mostely working on making (trying to make) new alliums, but sometimes an wild allium is also very interesting to grow in big amounts for use as cutflower or gardenplant. so that is why it looks so much. I stil like allium most and stil try to get as many species as possible, I have to say we throw away thousands and tousands of bulbs every year that are flowering from seed and do not fit in what we expected or trying to find....

[ronm]

 

[Tony Willis]

One of my only two alliums

Allium akaka

[ronm]

A very nice one though Tony.

[Oron Peri]

Tony
That is a real beauty.

Here are two alliums photographed this morning in the south of the Golan Heights [Syrian teritory]
A dark form of Allium schubertii and an  newly described species belonging to the A. nigrum group, soon it  is going to have its own name.