Perhaps no other genus in the world of plants has so long a history or appears in so many guises as allium, the useful, sometimes troublesome, often spectacular member of the onion family.

Allium cepa, the common cooking onion, is thought to be among the first plants to be cultivated by early man. Allium sativum, better known as garlic, was prized in ancient times not only for its pungent flavor but for its medicinal qualities. And species such as Allium canadense, the Wild Garlic or Wild Onion, have long been known (and not very welcome) as common weeds.

The wide use of alliums as ornamental plants, however, is a more recent phenomenon, first gaining favor about the middle of the 19th century.

Writing in 1936, Louise Beebe Wilder in her newly re-released classic "Adventures with Hardy Bulbs" observed that many American gardeners were still unaware of allium's use as an ornamental plant. This was unfortunate she felt, for alliums offer "the gardener a quantity of valuable and varied and easily grown material that it is a mistake to ignore."

Suggesting that its scarcity in flower gardens might be due to fear of a strong smell, Ms. Wilder noted that an onion smell "is apparent only when the stems or leaves are bruised" and went on to point out that "the blossoms of some . . . have the fragrance of Violets [sic] and other cherished blooms."

Due to a quarantine on foreign plant material in effect in the U.S. throughout the twenties and thirties, Louise Wilder's catalogue of allium bulbs consisted almost exclusively of varieties and cultivars obtained through her personal trading with horticultural acquaintances and correspondents.

The modern American gardener is more fortunate.

Today a wide assortment of allium varieties is commercially available, offering a dynamic range of plant heights and flower sizes. Colors of the blooms range from the purest white to the deepest purple and include cream, yellow, pink, red, blue and even neutral earth tones.

Plant Alliums in Fall for Early Summer Color

Alliums are planted in the fall, October/November in moderate to cold climates and in late-November/December in warmer climates.

Blooms appear in late May/June/July, flowering in umbels, or clusters of flowers sprouting from the same point. The umbels can be densely packed in fuzzy spheres, as found in A. aflatunense, A. albopilosum and the monstrously magnificent A. giganteum, or loosely tasseled as in the dwarf species A. moly and the delicate A. neapolitanum.

Modern designers prize alliums not only for their colors but for their interesting shapes and superb textures. They add engaging early summer accents in grassy or wooded areas, around shrubbery and to many manmade landscape features. Their combination of color and texture offer compelling companions to many other June/July bloomers, especially roses and lilies.

Shorter varieties such as A. moly, A. oreophilum (syn. ostrowskianum), A. neopolitanum and A. karataviense are excellent choices for rock gardens. Taller varieties, such as A. aflatunense, A. giganteum (which grows as high as four feet) and A. sphaerocephalon make interesting additions to the back of the border and most alliums make excellent cut flowers with a long vase life.

A. neapolitanum, a 15-inch species with delicate white flowers, has the most delicious fragrance of the commercially-available alliums. It makes a wonderful cut flower and can be easily forced. It can also be grown in the garden, though it is not entirely hardy (as the name suggests it is a native of the warm region of southern Italy) and should be well mulched in colder climates.

Easy to Grow, Natural Naturalizers

Species of allium are found native on every continent on earth. Most ornamental varieties grown in American gardens are species or cultivars of species native to the northern hemisphere. Knowing how closely your local conditions resemble an allium species' climate of origin can be a clue to its performance in your garden. Under proper conditions some alliums will multiply rapidly, propagating by means of small bulblets that form at the base of mature bulbs.

This tenacious quality makes many alliums an excellent choice for marginal areas of the garden as most do very well in poor or dry soil. They also do equally well in full sun or shade.

Easy to grow, interesting alliums are indeed plants no gardener should ignore. For a liberal dash of ornamental onions can add zest to the flower garden, just as their alimentary cousins provide flavor in the kitchen.