difference-in-bulb-sizes
Hi all
I LOVE alliums - love, love, LOVE them! Now it's the time of year to buy the bulbs, I've been snapping them up 
I bought a few packs of 'Gladiator' from Wilko at £2.50 per bulb (cheaper than the ones I bought from the Harrogate autumn flower show last year, bulbs were the same size though). Yesterday, I spotted they were also selling them in my local Lidl - 2 bulbs for £1.49!!!!
I've just compared the bulb sizes between the Wilko ones and the Lidl ones, and there is a marked difference. The Wilko ones are approximately 3 inches wide, the Lidl ones around 2 1/2 inches.
Am I right in assuming that the Lidl ones are just younger bulbs? They should still flower well though shouldn't they?
Emma (up to her armpits in Alliums)
0
Posts
Generally, the bigger the bulb, the better the flower. The lidl ones sound a bargain though. I must go and investigate our local one.
they have a multi-pack of 7 hyacinths for £1.49 too
Sorry, the alliums are £1.79 not £1.49. All the premium bulbs are £1.79.
Large Allium bulbs have a habit of dividing in twain to produce 2 flowering plants, so bigger can be good to get more plants!
Excellent
The more alliums the better
No gladiators in our store. They did have huge mount everest bulbs though.
I succumbed to 12red riding hood tulips,2x20 anemone blanda, 2x6purple sensation allium, and a pack of15 tete a tete daffs for a pot.
Be careful what you wish for! I have just removed three compost sacks full of Allium ostrowskianum aka farreri and other names too. It is the small purple one which often comes in the packs of mixed small Alliums.
All Alliums of the common types (common as in easily obtained) have the potential to be seed weeds if you are not careful. I have a huge bank of Allium karatviense Ivory Queen, all from self sown seeds.
If only some of the Californain ones would seed like that!
Oh and many of the Alliums sold as Gladiator are not what they claim to be. Still nice tall purple/blue things though.
I do agree with Berghill, alliums can be a delight but also some varieties are best described as a weed so plant with caution!
especially the yellow allium moly. I avoid mixed packs just because of that. When I have had special mulipack offers with them separately packed, I chuck the allium moly in the bin.
About to do the same removal job on Allium cernuum and Allium roseum and Allium saxatile, all of which have strayed from their allotted sppces. I have another one but the name escapes me, yellow under normal circumstances (not moly) but I have found gold, orange, red, white, very pale yellow and until the seedlings flower it is impossible to know what colour they are. I will keep the different coloured ones.
Now if Allium wallichianum was as easy to get to flowering size I would be happy. Or even happier with A. plummerae seed.
I wish mine would grow like weeds, but my ground is so yuck that I have to grow them in pots or they rot
which makes old Emms VERY grumpy!