Been thinking about growing some alliums in my mixed border. Do the leaves on alliums resemble the leaves on chives? Do the leaves die back right after blooming and look ugly? Thanks for your replies
It all depends on which allium you're growing. Some, such as A. azureum have narrow upright leaves like chives but most have much wider, leaves, especially the large alliums. The leaves usually start yellowing as the flowers finish and are long gone by the time the seeds are ripe on the flowerheads. Simon
Thanks Simon. When I look in books or even for pictures on the internet, they usually just show the flowers. Are there any alliums that keep their leaves green throughout most of the summer?
Well, chives (A. schoenoprasum) do, garlic chives (A. tuberosum). There are probably others but, since foliage is not typically the selling point of alliums, the literature is sparse. Simon
Well, in my not-all-that-extensive experience with growing alliums, the following are some ornamental varieties that retain their green foliage all season long, at least in this setting: A. senescens, flavum, sikkimense, cyaneum, roseum, cernuum The following tend to be spring or early summer bloomers with foliage that starts to die down during or shortly after blooming: A. aflatunense, ostrowskianum, moly, giganteum, sphaerocephalon, christophii, karataviense Those are only some of the ones I'm familiar with... given the large number of allium species, I'm sure there are many more in each category.
