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Allium Sphaerocephalon

Hi all, l bought a packet of drumstick alliums after admiring them in a photo someone posted on the gardening photos thread. Now I've got to plant them  I'm at a loss to know how and where to put them. I know the depth required, and they'll need grit under them. Do you plant yours in small groups, or in a clump? How do they look their best? They are going in a mixed border with roses, clematis and assorted perennials and bigger alliums. Do they return each year in your experience, they seem tiny bulbs? Thanks.

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  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 13,726

    They return year after year and multiply very well.

    I have them as a sort of drift through the bed they are planted in.

    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,396

    Plant them fairly close together, about 10 cm apart in drifts as Punkdoc says. They would look nice drifting through your clematis and roses probably, giving a pleasing casual look.  They like sandy soil.  

    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
  • Thank you Punkdoc and Redwing for the advice. I'll plant them up the drier end of the bed with my Gertrude Jekyll rose and my bearded irises. My soil is clay, though much improved with grit and organic matter over the years. l hope they'll thrive if l plant them on a good bit of grit.

  • AngieRAngieR Posts: 347

    The soil in my garden isn't the best drainage wise and find these do well unlike some other alliums I've tried in the past. 

  • Torg22Torg22 Posts: 302

    Ive planted around 15-20 of them all within 10cm of each other in a large pot and have another 20 odd that I need to plant elsewhere. They definitely look better in clumps. Although I haven't grown these myself before I have seen then on display at the RHS flower shows. Hope you like bees as they certainly attract A LOT of them.

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