Plant Combinations, Flowerbeds Ideas, Spring Borders, Summer Borders
Over the past ten years, the number of Allium varieties has exploded. Where a decade ago, only ten varieties dominated the ornamental onion scene, today, there are more than a score. It’s enough to bring tears to your eyes. Distant cousins of garlic, Alliums are sometimes called ornamental garlic or flowering onion. While these names convey the Allium’s bulbous nature and slightly strong scent, they fall short of communicating the exuberant good looks of this sexy, sophisticated plant group.
Following are some inspired Allium and perennial combinations, some created by Dutch master landscape artist and designer Piet Oudolf. His plant combinations demonstrate his skill in selecting season-spanning plant partnerships that bring ebbs and flows of interest to the garden over long seasons. His forte is selecting individually-interesting plants that, when planted together, create exquisite combinations that surprise and delight via their interplay of foliage, form, and flower color, with height, texture, movement, bloom, and after-bloom aspects taken into account.
Allium and Salvia (Sage) |
 Allium sphaerocephalon (Drumstick Allium), Stipa barbata (Feather Grass), Perovskia abrotanoides (Russian sage) |
Allium, Penstemon digitalis (Beardtongue) |
Allium, Camassia leichtinii (Quamash) |
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Allium, Aquilegia (Columbine) |
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Allium, Papaver (Poppy) |
Allium, Geranium phaeum (Dusky Cranesbill) |
| Plant Type | Bulbs |
|---|---|
| Genus | Allium |
| Attracts | Bees |
This high wire garden act teams up two types of tall purple alliums with an even taller phlomis that sports lavender flowers stacked upright on the stem like skewered olives spaced on a pick.
Elegant low-growing ‘Ivory Queen’ is worth growing for its broad bluish foliage alone. Its balls of ivory florets are 3-inch (7cm) in diameter and appear in May-June. The dense solidity of the allium is nicely set off by the sleek drape and airiness of the medium-green bunch-forming ornamental grass which puts up sprays of delicate flowers late summer through frost.
An alternate partner for Sporobolus heterolepsis is Allium christophii (aka A. albopilosum) with a completely different look and demeanor. Here is an allium with metallic-blue star-shaped florets forming loose flower umbels measuring nearly 10 in. (25cm) across each. After a long bloom period, the dried allium flowers hold their shape in the garden, often draped over nearby perennial partners with charming effect, often holding their shape into mid-winter.
A lovely companion plant for allium ‘Purple Sensation’ is Gladiolus communis byzantinus (Byzantine Gladiolus or Sword Lily), a hardy summer-blooming bulb with sword-shaped foliage and, in May and June, small fragrant orchid-like cerise flowers. Sturdy and upright, this glad reaches with no need of staking.
In this pairing, the excitement comes from color-play and contrast of shape. The allium’s formal spherical shape, sturdy stem and large reddish-purple flower provide succinct contrast to the curved shapes, free-form structure and small maroon flower of this perennial geranium. This sophisticated combination pulses with quiet energy.
Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ introduces an upright spherical shape and whimsical impertinence to lower-growing Heuchera (Coral Bells) and Gillenia trifoliata (Bowman’s Root). The Coral Bell’s low, abundant curled leaves (golden in spring, more apricot as the season warms) are a perfect counterpoint to the alliums’ elevated formal shape and intense coloration. The third partner, compact and bushy Bowman’s Root, makes an evolving color contribution with mahogany-colored stems and petioles in the early season, white flowers in early summer through fall, and attractive reddish foliage color in autumn
Photos: Botanik Foto, Chanticleer Garden
| Plant Type | Bulbs |
|---|---|
| Genus | Allium |
| Attracts | Bees |
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Create a membership account to save your garden designs and to view them on any device.
Becoming a contributing member of Gardenia is easy and can be done in just a few minutes. If you provide us with your name, email address and the payment of a modest $25 annual membership fee, you will become a full member, enabling you to design and save up to 25 of your garden design ideas.
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