Allium chloranthum Yellow Fantasy

Allium chloranthum 'Yellow Fantasy' is an ornamental garlic with umbels of curiously tousled bright yellow flowers streaked with green. This selection, characterised by a low habit and long-pedunculate umbels of flowers, resembles A. flavum and has the advantage of being more floriferous and flowering about a month earlier than its cousin. With its bright flowers swaying in the wind, it is a lovely plant for rockeries or well-drained borders that can withstand both cold and very dry summers. If the conditions are right, it will naturalise in the garden and come back every year.

Like all ornamental garlics, Allium chloranthum 'Yellow Fantasy' belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family. Its ancestor is native to Lebanon and southern Turkey. 'Yellow Fantasy' was selected in the province of Gaziantep in Turkey. It is a perennial herbaceous plant with a bulb. Reaching a height of 40 to 50cm (16 to 20in) when in flower, this garlic produces a few deciduous, ribbon-like, flat, thin, fleshy, glaucous green leaves that dry up and disappear after flowering. From June to August, depending on the climate, several floral stems appear. Each one bears an inflorescence about 4 to 5cm (2in) in diameter. The umbel is composed of small shiny flowers. They are bell-shaped and pendulous, with protruding stamens, carried by long light-yellow pedicels. Each yellow petal is crossed by a green midline.

Plant Allium chloranthum 'Yellow Fantasy' in rockeries, grouping the bulbs in a gravel bed or in a pot. The key is to keep the soil dry in summer and not too wet in winter. Pair it with perennials that thrive in dry conditions, such as stipa, Geranium sanguineum, Dianthus gratianopolitanus, santolina, and origanum, to create a setting reminiscent of Mediterranean scrubland. This little yellow garlic can also be planted alongside small blue agapanthus.