Allium 'Lucy Ball'

picklepick

Hello

Does anyone know how easy these flowers are to grow and if they are indeed suitable for our climate?

I'm getting married in 2011 and would love these for my tables

My father is a great gardener and he wants to grow my flowers for me as much as possible.
We're having a spring wedding and i understand these are spring flowering plants. They need to be pretty reliable though otherwise its back to tulips!

Thanks for any info

Kay_Peel

Dead easy, pickle pick.

They have to be kept in quite a dry spot and are not happy if the ground is water-logged and clay-ey. Ideal conditions would be sandy soil in full sun, I'd guess.

I don't have ideal conditions. They didn't do very well at first. I gave up on them and planted a clump of late flowering Michaelmas Daisies nearby. The diasies grew tall and spread out .... and suddenly the alliums began to thrive.

The daisy clump kept them sheltered and dry. They also seem to hold up the stems of the alliums so that I don't have to stake them in my windswept, wet North-western garden. The alliums grow through the foliage and - even though I say it myself - they look spectacular. When they are past their best, I take off the heads before they set seed and the Michaelmas Daisies take over.

Go for it - I think it's a great idea to have alliums dotted around the place and making a bold statement!

I wouldn't recommend them for a wedding bouquet though .... unless the bride likes eau d'onion parfum. They should be perfect for a dramatic table setting.

Good luck with the wedding and all the best.

picklepick

Thanks Kay thats brilliant

They;re for my tables, ive seen them in a photo and they look fabulous!

Whens the best time to put in the bulbs? We're hoping to have a trial run this spring ready for 2011

When would you say your best flowering period is?

Thanks

picklepick

Bump, in case anyone knows the answer?!

Kay_Peel

Funnily enough they've only just stopped flowering.

They were rather late in getting going this year - usually they begin to show around the end of May, right through June and start to fade during July, but this year they didn't start until the third week in June - and have put up new flowers after I've removed the old ones before they set seed. me. I don't know what happened there. I'm in the rainy north-west which might have something to do with it.

The best time to plant bulbs is right now, during autumn.

Good luck!

picklepick

thanks kay, ill see if i can order some bulbs online then.

hopefully it should all go to plan!

lupitt

Only just seen this thread and wanted to add that we are on heavy clay soil and grow 'Lucy Ball' alliums with no trouble at all. I also grow them in pots. Acutally I'm a bit obsessed with them - my great granny was called Lucy Ball! All my research on them showed them to tollerate most soil types and be easy to grow. That's certainly been my experience!

Mine flowered early May and have just gone to green where they'll nod about for the rest of the year!

Did you get any and how are they growing?