Wild garlic is the first sign of spring. Crowding past brown grass, pushing aside dead leaves, braving dismal sog and dirty snow, its slender, tender, blue-green blades stand ten inches high before February is out. It's up before the crocuses, before snowdrops even, off to a running start in maple-sugar time.
--Sara Stein, My Weeds, 1988
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Allium ostrowskianum
Bulbous perennial with mid-green leaves, produces loose 3 inch dark pink umbels in late spring. Plant 6" deep and 4" apart. Sad to report - I just did not see these guys pop up at all this year - maybe next year?
Jackson & Perkins, 80 bulbs.
CULTIVATION: Grow in fertile, well drained soil in full sun. Plant bulbs 2 - 4 inches deep in autumn; plant clump forming species with rhizomes at, or just below the surface in spring. Alliums from areas with hot, dry summers may be best grown in sandy, soil based potting mix in an alpine house; keep dry when dormat.
PROPAGATION: Sow seed in containers in cold frame. Some may take 2 years to germinate. Remove offsets of bulbous species in autumn. Divide clump forming, rhizomatous species in spring.
PESTS AND DISEASES: Bulb rots caused by soil-borne fungi are common under damp conditions, especially immediately following planting. White rot, mildew, rust, smut, and various fungal leaf spots can occur. Susceptible to onion fly and thrips.
Allium ostrowskianum
| Zone: 4 - 8 Heat: 9 - 1 |
Sun to partial sun |
| Height: 4 - 12 inches |
Width: 4 - 8 |
| Bloom Time: Late Spring |
Bloom Color: Dark Pink |
| Location: Front and back |
Planted: 23 Oct 2004 |
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