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Dec 16, 2009, 7:07pm

Homegrown Goodness :: What's Growing on in your garden? :: Other vegetables and flowers including exotics :: Edible ornamental alliums

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Topic: Edible ornamental alliums (Read 89 times)

castanea
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Location: California, Zone 9b

Edible ornamental alliums
« Thread Started on Sept 10, 2009, 10:21pm »

I just received this email from a bulb company propmoting their ornamental alliums. What I am wondering is how many of these are really good alliums for eating:

Allium albopilosum, Ambassador, Firmament, Gladiator, Globemaster, Pinball Wizard, Mount Everest and White Giant.

Allium aflatunense, aflatunense Purple Sensation, atropurpureum, azureum, karativiense, karativiense Ivory Queen, multibulbosum, rosenbachianum and Silver Spring. (For those of you involved in garden restorations, Allium aflatunense, albopilosum, atropurpureum, azureum, karativiense, karativiense Ivory Queen and multibulbosum are all heirloom varieties, some dating back to as long ago as 1762)

Allium schubertii that has spidery, 12” flowers

Allium bulgaricum that gracefully grows to three feet tall with delicate clusters of pendant ivory flowers flushed purple that magically elevate themselves into a magnificent, outward-facing flower.

Allium Hair that appears much like an alien life form with green, tentacle-like flowers.

Allium flavum and pulchellum and that bring bursts of golden-yellow and reddish-violet fireworks to the garden.

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plantsnobin Karen
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Hip-Gnosis Seed Development Staff
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Posts: 1,128
Location: southern IN

Re: Edible ornamental alliums
« Reply #1 on Sept 11, 2009, 9:10am »

I grow many of these, including Ambassador, Gladiator, Mount Everest, Purple Sensation, azureum, cernuum, shubertii, flavum, thunbergii, tuberosum, christophii, govanianum, schoenoprasum and a few others. I haven't tried eating these, most would be a little pricey for eating. Some can be easily grown from seed though, and would be worth a shot. JLHuson currently offers 7 different alliums, so for the price of a couple of bulbs one could try several types for experiment. It will take me a couple of years to multiply the ones I have now enough to taste any of them.

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Ave last frost May 10, first frost Oct. Generally no snow cover in winter, hot & very humid summers. Don't eat greens. Or Brussels sprouts, or any of that other healthy stuff. Strawberries=pure paradise. Live on 2 acres, daughter next door has 3 acres, and family farm across highway is 196 acres, mostly in hay.

lieven
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Re: Edible ornamental alliums
« Reply #2 on Oct 25, 2009, 4:30pm »

Christophii or Schubertii (I forget which) smells & tastes like petrol

All alliums contain sulphur, in varying amounts & combinations; I once heard they're all edible, but not always tasty

:)
Check out http://www.pfaf.org/leaflets/onions.php: I grow & love eating the following:

A.Tuberosum
A. Carinatum (my favourite)
A.Triquetrum
A. Oleraceum
A. Zebdanense
A. Moly
A. Paniculatum
A. Ampeloprasum: Babbington's leek
A. Sensation & some other big headed ones: I've tasted a few; they're quite ok to me, but then the wild perennials are so much hardier.
Warning: some alliums, like A. vineale (including A. vineale 'Hair') produce loads of bulbils, which will spread all over the garden. A. carinatum does that too, but we eat most of the young plants ;-)

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lieven
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Re: Edible ornamental alliums
« Reply #3 on Oct 25, 2009, 4:50pm »

Wietse Mellema in Holland has got plenty of alliums, including some of his own breeding: find his list at http://www.wmel.nl/?pagina=5&aanbod=B. He'll answer you in English - or in Dutch, if you insist

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ottawagardener
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Location: Can. Z 5a, 120 ff, urban

Re: Edible ornamental alliums
« Reply #4 on Oct 25, 2009, 8:06pm »

I remember reading this on pfaf too. I'm going to check out that site lieven... in English. My Dutch would impress no one...

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