[pbs] Allium TOW - misc. responses to John Ingram
Antennaria at aol.com
Antennaria at aol.com
Sun Mar 9 22:30:53 EST 2003
John Ingram wrote about his experiences with Alliums. In reference to Allium
aflatunense, most likely your plants are A. hollandicum... a name given to
the plant that has been cultivated for a very long time under the name
"aflatunense". The true plant A. aflatunense is very different that the
plant in cultivation, and has only recently become available.
"They have never reseeded that I am aware."
When doing summer clean-up, I pluck out the dried flower stalks, and dump
them, along with weeds and other garden refuse, into the rough borders of the
yard. Much to my surprise, the seed germinates and grow into flowering
plants, growing and competing in 3' tall grass and weeds! Of particular
surprise, was a growing colony of Allium cristophii (note spelling, it's "cr"
not "chr") that seeded in where I was dumping the spent stalks. I had dozens
of flowering bulbs, growing in full shade no less! Last fall I dug up all of
these bonus bulbs and planted them out into regular garden beds. It should
be noted that the self-sown A. cristophii seedlings, while growing in shade,
were in heavy clay, in a raised area that becomes bone dry during the summer.
The bulbs were very close to the surface.
"I do have a plant that came only labeled as curly allium."
There's lots of so-called curly onions. Jane is correct in suggesting the
name most often refers to Allium senescens ssp. glaucum. However the
nomenclature of this whole group has been recently revised. It seems that
"ssp. glaucum" is absorbed under regular A. senescens (per Dr. Friesen),
however A. senescens in the European sense has been redefined to include only
the Asian representatives of the genus, with the European representatives
(ssp. montanum) restored to an earlier name A. lusitanicum. According to Dr.
Friesen, these is indeed Allium spirale, an old resurrected name for the
curly-leaf entity. Most plants grown in cultivation under the name A.
senescens ssp. glaucum are derived from garden hybrids and are extremely
variable, thus the name has little meaning. By the way, check out the PBS
wiki Allium Chives subpage for other curly onions, and the Rhizomatous Onions
for other possibilities.
Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States
antennaria at aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5
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