Allium Bubble Bath - Blue Siberian Onion

Allium Bubble Bath is a vigorous and prolific allium, quickly forming a dense clump of slightly twisted, glaucous green leaves. Unlike bulbous varieties, its foliage persists throughout the summer, remaining ornamental even after flowering. Its soft pinkish-purple ball-shaped inflorescences, which appear from July onwards, attract numerous pollinating insects. As easy to grow as a perennial, this garlic prefers a sunny exposure and ordinary, well-drained soil. It is perfect along a pathway, in a border, or even in a planter on a terrace. Moreover, its flowers are suitable for creating bouquets, whether fresh or dried.

Allium Bubble Bath is a hybrid ornamental garlic variety obtained in 2023 by Walters Gardens in Michigan. All these plants belong to the Alliaceae family, they are cousins of garlic and leeks with which they share a foliage with a characteristic scent, noticeable when crushed.

The Bubble Bath cultivar develops in spring from a rhizome that forms a beautiful clump of upright, rather thin, linear, shiny, bluish-green leaves. It reaches about 60 cm in height and spreads laterally through its slightly suckering rhizome, at least 50 cm. Flowering takes place in July-August in a moderate climate, lasting 5-6 weeks. From the centre of the clumps, 55 cm tall stems emerge, each bearing a solitary spherical inflorescence of 7 to 8 cm in diameter. The inflorescence is composed of numerous tiny star-shaped flowers in a very bluish-pink, purple hue, nectar-rich and honey-producing.

Planted en masse along a pathway, in a border or paired with perennials in pink and blue tones, the Bubble Bath allium stands out in a romantic mixed border. It wonderfully complements daylilies, bellflowers, Agastaches, catmints. In an original border mixing flowers and vegetables, it pairs well with chives, colourful-stemmed chards, Pennisetum x advena Rubrum, purple basil, and many more. For a more contemporary and dynamic effect, its flowers can structure a modern garden, playing on geometric shapes with Stipa tenuifolia, lavenders and boxwoods trimmed into cones.