Allium unifolium

Allium unifolium is a beautiful botanical ornamental garlic native to mountainous areas in the western United States. This species has the advantage of tolerating moist to wet soils, where it will naturalise to form stunning colonies over time. It offers an abundant flowering in early summer, in the form of pretty umbels resembling clusters of campanulate lavender-pink flowers. It is a decorative, trouble-free plant, and is easy to place anywhere. It has received the prestigious RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Allium unifolium is a wild mountain plant, native to coastal regions of the western United States, including Northern California and Oregon. This herbaceous bulbous plant belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family, like cultivated garlic, onion, and leek. It has a fleshy and fibrous storage organ that multiplies by forming bulblets. The inflorescences, perched on stems at a height of 30cm (12in), consist of umbels about 5cm (2in) in diameter, made up of about twenty large star-shaped flowers with soft pink petals veined with lilac. This flowering emerges from a dense herbaceous tuft composed of linear and very narrow deciduous green leaves, shorter than the flower stalks. It occurs between May and June. The plant self-sows spontaneously in light and fertile soil.

Easy to grow in sunny, dry or moist but well-drained soil, and hardy down to -15°C (5°F), Allium unifolium can be used in borders, rockeries, or in pots to enjoy its beautiful flowering on a balcony or patio. Enhance your bouquets with its fresh or dried flowers. Plant them in groups of 5 and place them among ornamental grasses, dry-tolerant perennials such as hyssops, thymes, arborescent or creeping wormwoods, silver baskets, or even aubrietas.

Handy kitchen garden tip: place some ornamental garlic in the middle of strawberry plants to protect them from fungal diseases. They will add pleasant blooms that are sometimes lacking among vegetables.