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Awesome Allium Combos

Plant Combinations, Flowerbeds Ideas, Spring Borders, Summer Borders

Allium combinations, Allium companions, Allium planting Companions, Plant Alliums with, Allium planting combinations

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.

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Allium and Salvia (Sage)

Round-headed leek (Allium sphaerocephalon), feather grass (Stipa barbata) and Russian sage (Perovskia abrotanoides)Allium sphaerocephalon (Drumstick Allium), Stipa barbata (Feather Grass), Perovskia abrotanoides (Russian sage)
  • Planted in loose clusters of five, seven, or more (Alliums are truly a case where more is more!), Alliums add drama to the garden all season, first with exotic flowers in May, June, and July and, in many cases, later with interesting dried seed heads.
  • Alliums thrive in sandy, even rocky soil where they receive full or partial sun. Spaced generously, Alliums will naturalize and multiply in compatible climate zones (most varieties are hardy in USDA zones 5 – 8, others in zones 3 – 7).
  • Best known are the taller Alliums with their long, sturdy stems 2-3 ft. tall (60–90 cm) and signature dense purple puffball flower umbels. Their ball-shaped flower heads come in a range of sizes: essentially large, larger, and enormous (or, to better visualize using sporting imagery, think ping-pong ball, softball and nearly-soccer!). Popping up from flowerbeds like so many out-stretched ostrich necks, the taller Alliums excel in the garden as elegant vertical accents with architectural interest. These are the Alliums florists are fond of.
Allium Lucy Ball, Penstemon Digitalis, Chanticleer garden

Allium, Penstemon digitalis (Beardtongue)

allium, camassia Blue Danube

Allium, Camassia leichtinii (Quamash)

  • There are also dozens of lesser-known, more subtle Alliums. These low-growing Alliums reach only 8-14 in. (20-35 cm) and have widely varied forms and flowers. Where purplish shades dominate among the high-flyers, the low growers sport flowers of white, yellow, pink, lavender or ivory with green.
  • Fall is the time to plant Alliums and the season to pick the perennial partners to play up and play off the attributes of each in the garden next summer.
Allium combinations, Allium companions, Allium planting Companions, Plant Alliums with, Allium planting combinations

Allium, Aquilegia (Columbine)

Allium combinations, Allium companions, Allium planting Companions, Plant Alliums with, Allium planting combinations

Allium, Papaver (Poppy)

Allium combinations, Allium companions, Allium planting Companions, Plant Alliums with, Allium planting combinations

Allium, Geranium phaeum (Dusky Cranesbill)

Outstanding Perennial Partners for Alliums

Guide Information

Plant Type Bulbs
Genus Allium
Attracts Bees

Allium 'Purple Sensation' + Allium 'Globemaster' + Phlomis tuberosa

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.

Allium karataviense 'Ivory Queen' + Sporobolus heterolepis (Ornamental Grass – Prairie Dropseed)

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.

Allium cristophii (Star of Persia) + Sporobolus heterolepis (Ornamental Grass – Prairie Dropseed)

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.

Allium 'Purple Sensation' + Gladiolus communis byzantinus (Byzantine Gladiolus)

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.

Allium 'Purple Sensation' + Geranium phaeum

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' + Heuchera 'Caramel' + Gillenia trifoliata (Bowman's Root)

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

Garden Examples

A Fabulous Bee Friendly Border Idea
A Serene Courtyard Designed for Long-Lasting Color and Interest
An Eye-Catching Border Idea with Alliums and Lupines
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While every effort has been made to describe these plants accurately, please keep in mind that height, bloom time, and color may differ in various climates. The description of these plants has been written based on numerous outside resources.

Guide Information

Plant Type Bulbs
Genus Allium
Attracts Bees
Compare All Allium
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Allium
Guides with
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