Allium 2012

Nice ones Dave, A. kurtzianum is one of my favorites.  This thing would still be called A. olympicum if it wasn't for years of my persistent correction of the correct identity; a great little onion  for a trough.  The other is A. carinatum ssp. pulchellum, and easy to grow and commonly grown species, another of my favorites; it's like a rosy-purple counterpart to A. flavum.  Nice to see such lovely plants, we're in the deep freeze here.

Must dash off to work soon, but later I'll split off your post to start a new Allium 2012 topic :D

Lovely onions, Dave.

When does they flower in the northern hemisphere? I am always looking for nice onions to grow at my summerhouse. Ideally they should tolerate some summer drought and flower in late June, July or early August ;)

Late last autumn (2011) seed of Allium ovalifolium (thanks Lori!) germinated.  Wasn't sure whether to overwinter them indoors or unpot and plunge the square soil lump "as is", into a position in the garden.  I chose the latter, and covered the area with wire mesh to keep squirrel digging at bay.  I'm so pleased that they started into growth early and are reaching for the warmth.  I have tried seed of this species at least half a dozen times before (including a few of my own seed from an ex Chen Yi form that is a weak grower and not a "good looker"), but never got germination.  Glad to get started with a form that I believe is more robust and much better looking :D

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 today, 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.

Tony wrote:

Allium akaka in flower now. In the wild it is completely stemless but elongates in cultivation

Tony, I have tried a number of times to grow this species, have not succeeded in getting them though more than a year of two (I grow all thse things outside).  I like the twisting foliage in your form. I see that your posted a second form on SRGC.  What is the source of your bulbs or seed?

I have always wondered about the name "akaka", what it the derivation, I can't find anything that equates to it in botanical terms.  Looking up "akaka", I learn that it is a Hawaiian word, and there is a famous waterfall in Hawaii named Akaka Falls.

Another mystery was an Allium posted on the SRGC Forum, named by a nursery named Kwekerij De Schullhorn in the Netherlands.  The plant was labeled Allium 'Eos'.  When questioned about the name, he said is was a photo labeling mistake for Allium 'Cameleon' (apparently that is a French spelling of chameleon).  The story was, this was a plant from Wayne Roderick and that it was an American species.  I doubted that, because the plant had wide hairy leaves; no North American allium species has wide hairy leaves, or hairy leaves of any sort.  Some bulbs were generously shipped to me.

Initially I narrowed down the ID possibilities to A. longanum or A. trifoliatum, closely related species, both are Mediterranean species. Now that my plants are flowering in their second year, taking on the strong white-aging-pink color, I have passed it through the keys again, and now feel confident this is Allium trifoliatum.  The insistance that this must be an American species because it was sent from someone in America is a red herring, the plant characteristics speak for themselves.

I'm pleased to report that this autumn-leaf-sprouting Allium is hardy here, and this year coloring up nicely; it is a very good form of A. trifoliatum.  I believe it is important to establish this, as plants in the Netherlands are sometimes too easily named with a cultivar name and resgistered, but with no understanding about what the underlying species is.

Impressions of Allium trifoliatum 'Cameleon', notice the ants in photo #5, they seem glued to the nectar of this sweet scented onion.  The effect whereby thye white flowers variable age pink is delightful.

Related message history on SRGC:
It all starts here, where I start asking questions about a photo shown labeled as Allium 'Eos', then read the topic down:
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=5164.msg153884#msg153884

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=5164.msg202959#msg202959

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=6685.msg208295#msg208295

Mark, you have undertaken some detective work! Very handsome onions to.

Madgardener wrote:

Hoy,
I've been growing Allium kurtzianum for many years and find it does best in my unheated alpine house.

Very slow to increase and I nearly lost it a few years ago trying to grow it outside, it did not like the damp, wet winters.

It flowers for me usually in July.  The attached photo from last year was taken on 01/07/2011

Thanks, Madgardener.

Then I will not try them at home but at my summerhouse where the climate is much better. - if I get hold of some seeds or bulbs!

Mike, excellent patch of Allium kurtzianum, certainly one of the very best and most showy of dwarf Turkish Allium.  I don't find it particularly difficult to grow in the open garden, used to have nice patches of them, and they lasted for years.  But, they won't take being crowded out by other plants, and that is why I eventually lost most of them.

Luc,

What is the range of age in these beauties you regale us with?

Wonderful assortment there Luc.  A have a number of these coming along from Kurt Vickery and Pilous seed, but merely as tiny 1-2 year seedlings; all are being grown outside.  I sowed Kurt Vickery's Allium aff. elburzense in two spots, each has about a dozen seedlings.  Only 4-5 years to see what happens.  But then again, I had my first seed-gown plant of Trillium discolor - Pale Form flower from seed I sowed outside in 2006, all one needs is patience.

More beauties Luc, I'm particularly keen to get A. colchicifolium some day, love the contrasting color of dark ovaries with clean white flowers.  My Allium aff. ellisii expired a couple years ago, but I'm happy to have some 2-year seedlings from K. Vickery's "aff. ellisii".  I also have a few 2-year seedlings of A. materculae coming along (not the albiflorum variety), but time will tell whether I shall succeed with these sown-and-grown outdoors.

Could I please have some help with this Allium, received as A. meteoricum. I was struck by the rather smart black pedicels:

John85 wrote:

Is there somebody who can give me some information about A.diclamydeum?

John, Allium dichlamydeum is a low elevation coastal Californian species, low in stature and very showy, with deep pink-rose flowers.  Here I can keep it for aabout 2-3 years but it always fizzles out and disappears in my climate, I don't think it is among the hardiest of Allium because of its low coastal native haunts.  There are some good photos showing the plant and its native haunts on the Pacific Bulb Society photo galleries:

Allium dichlamydeum
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/AmericanAlliumsTwo

Stephenb wrote:

Could I please have some help with this Allium, received as A. meteoricum. I was struck by the rather smart black pedicels:

Stephen, I'm mystified by that one. Examining the bulbs/roots, is it rhizomatous or a bulbous species?  It's been about 10 years since I grew A. meteoricum (a small bulbous allium that was among my favorites); your plant looks very different, and the black pedicels... mesmerizing!  Do you know the seed source?

I dug up a clump this evening and enclose a couple more pictures. I've also found out who sent me the seed and have asked if he recognises the plant.

John85 wrote:

Allium schoenoprasum major and A.sch.var sibericum
What is the difference please?

Back in the early 1990s I made a compilation of varieties and taxonomic combinations for Allium schoenoprasum; there are dozens of published varieties and forms, although almost none of them are recognized, they are considered to fall within the natural genetic variability of the species.  Since Allium schoenoprasum has the largest distribution of any allium species (most of the northern hemisphere), it is not unusual I suppose that so many varieties were separately described.

Allium schoenoprasum var. sibiricum Garcke is considered by Dr. Nikolai Friesen in 1996 to be a synonym of A. schoenoprasum.  It was described as a tall robust large-flowered form from Siberia and North America.  The same name, as described by other authors, was identified as a new species in 1988, also by Friesen, as Allium altyncolicum. 

The name "major" must surely be a horticultural concoction of no legitimate meaning, it's not a name that was published. Searching google yields very few results, most likely someone applied the name "major" to a larger growing form of chives.

Stephenb wrote:

I dug up a clump this evening and enclose a couple more pictures. I've also found out who sent me the seed and have asked if he recognises the plant.

I'm still mystified about which allium this could be.  I wonder if the pedicel color carries any diagnostic importance; often pedicel color can vary within a species.  I googled allium "black pedicels" and it came up with our very own previous conversation about some forms of Allium ochotense (typically this is a syn. of A. victorialis) with dark pedicels.  ;)  Allium cernuum has pedicels that range from green, through shades of reddish and purplish, and tones of gray to near black, thus not useful as a diagnostic characteristic in that case.

Very interesting Allium whatever it is.

Must photograph first bloom on an Allium from Kazakhstan from Panayotis Kelaidis' 2010 collecting expedition, it looks akin to A. saxatile, but I think it may be closer to A. kurssanovii.

Here is first bloom on an Allium sp. #215 from Kazakhstan from Panayoti Kelaidis' 2010 collecting expedition; looks like Allium kurssanovii to me.  I once grew A. kurssanovii from a known source, and it was much like A. saxatile, but had smaller flowers in a compact head, and bulbs very close to the surface, with enlarged bulb bases, with leaves that smelled badly when bruised or picked, rather skunky like Nectaroscordum.  This Allium sp. #215 from Kazakhstan has similar characteristics.

Allium sp. #215 from Kazakhstan, aff. A. kurssanovii:

Enlarged bulb bases:

And as a parting shot, here is Allium caeruleum, the excellent form from Denver Botanic Garden... I wish it was more amenable to cultivation, I haven't yet found a spot where it will produce more than a single stem here and there.  

bulborum wrote:

Did you try it to grow from seed ??
a friend of me grows Allium caeruleum for the commerce
but it has still now and then a few bulblets in the flower-head

most clones in the trade here have a lot of bulblets in the flower-head  :(

Roland

This an extra fine form of Allium caeruleum that doesn't make any bulbils in the flower head, it is taller growing, with larger heads, and a bright blue color versus the darker blue color of those typically in commerce.  It makes myriad little bulblets at the base of the stalks and around the mother bulb; I have gathered these and replanted them, but they are very slow to increase in size, and only the very largest bulbs will flower.  I wish it would grow more easily, to create a scene similar to the one at Denver Botanic Garden, see gthe photos in this link from 2010.
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=177.msg1254#msg1254

I received this as Allium karelinii (SRGC seed from 2007).

From FOC: Leaves, leaf sheaths, and scape scabrous-denticulate along angles. Fl. Aug.
Meadows, along streams; 2000--2500 m. Xinjiang (Altay Shan, Tarbagatay Shan, Tian Shan) [Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia].

It  doesn't feel obviously rough. Suggestions?

If the stems are not scabrid, and obviously so when running one's fingers along the stems, then what you have is Allium schoenoprasum  :(

Basically, A. karelinii is the scabrous phase of A. schoenoprasum (syn. Allium schoenoprasum var. scaberrimum Regel), but it is an accepted species these days.

Oh joy, thanks Mark!

Anyway, it looks different to any of my other schoenoprasums and I reckon they are underrated as in the attached bouquet I took a few days ago (judging by the reactions I got when I posted this picture on FB a few days ago)!

Stephenb wrote:

Oh joy, thanks Mark!

Anyway, it looks different to any of my other schoenoprasums and I reckon they are underrated as in the attached bouquet I took a few days ago (judging by the reactions I got when I posted this picture on FB a few days ago)!

Stephen, that bouquet looks good enough to eat  ;)

In case anyone in wondering about the strange place name Roland mentioned, this link descibes the place:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-Smashed-In_Buffalo_Jump

FB = Facebook

Roland: It's www.facebook.com/stephen.barstow.7