Family: Liliaceae
Popular name: Ornamental Garlic

Flower colour: lilac-purple

Flowering period: April – May

Average plant height: 90 cm

Planting depth to base of bulb: 20 cm

Spacing between bulbs: 25 cm

Type of bulb: bulb

Light requirements: full sun to half-shade

Landscape uses: beds, perennial beds, and as cut flowers

This is one of the loveliest ornamental onions, its inflorescence consisting of dozens of small star-shaped flowers united to form a globe-shaped cluster. To achieve a successful visual effect, 10 to 15 bulbs should be planted close together. The narrow blue-green leaves also have a certain ornamental value. ‘Lucy Ball’ and ‘Purple Sensation’, both of which are deep purple, are extremely valuable as cultivated hybrids. These alliums will usually naturalise very satisfactorily in climatic zones 4 -7.