Allium neapolitanum (Ornamental Onion)

Allium neapolitanum (Naples Garlic) is a beautiful, profusely-flowering ornamental onion with sweetly-scented clusters of white, star-shaped flowers forming umbels up to 3-4 in. wide (7-10 cm), atop narrow strap-shaped, mid-green leaves. Blooming in late spring to early summer, this compact, deciduous, bulbous perennial boasts long-lasting blooms and remains ornamental in the garden well into summer. The flowers are very attractive to bees and other pollinating insects, making Naples Garlic a wonderful addition to a wildlife garden.

• Growing up to 10 – 12 in. high (25 – 30 cm), this beauty naturalizes easily and will come back year after year!
• Easily grown in rich, sandy to gritty, dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun. This Allium is drought tolerant.
• Known for attracting bees, butterflies, ​moths, and other pollinators, but deer ignore it.
• Stunning in beds and borders, city gardens, cottage gardens, prairies, or containers. For best visual impact, plant in groups (at least 10 to 15 bulbs).
• Mixes beautifully with other late spring flowering bulbs and creates stunning combinations with pink or white delphiniums, peonies, or irises.
• To be planted in fall.
• Keep an eye out for slugs and snails, leaf miner, allium rot, and powdery mildew.
• Propagate by seed, sowing in containers in a cold frame when just ripe or in the spring, and by division of clumps in spring.
• Allium neapolitanum is native to the Mediterranean Region from Portugal to Turkey.

Hundreds of Allium species exist, but only a few have made a name for themselves as garden plants. The ornamental onions distinguish themselves by their remarkable diversity in color, inflorescence, and flowering height. Many species bloom in early summer – just after the spring-flowering period and just before the exuberant full bloom of summer. Certain small species are just perfect for a rock garden, and several lend themselves to naturalizing. All species can be used in the border.