Looking for something really cool and different for the garden this year?  How about some great big balls of color in red, pink, blue, purple, or yellow?  Try to imagine that same cool plant looking fantastic beside that prized rosebush you have out there.  Now, imagine that beautiful scene being pest free!

You begin to see the advantages of growing Ornamental Onion in the flower garden.....

Ornamental Onion is, of course, edible, but it's not grown for food - and therein lies the fine line between flower and vegetable garden. Every member of the Allium family puts out globe-shaped, intensely packed flowers, and basically, all onion plants are ornamental if allowed to flower and arranged properly in the garden.

Ornamental Onion is a full-fledged member of the Allium family, and as we know, it's close relatives include the familiar grocery store onion, garlic, shallot, chives, and leeks.  If you've ever had a neglected vegetable garden like I have, you already know that even the regular table onions put on a memorable show if you don't pull them first.  And the ornamentals are even more showy! These are cool plants!

All Alliums are cool weather plants that like full sun, but often do well in part shade.  Some bloom later and some bloom early, and a few bloom in the fall - so pay attention when ordering.  The leaves on all are close to the ground and fairly insignificant, but the sturdy stems rise from the ground - sometimes to 3-4 feet, and bear huge brightly-colored balls that look like a great big lollipops from a distance.  These morph with age into all kinds of very cool patterns, always retaining that perfect ball shape.  I guarantee you - if you grow just one - you will go out and look closely at it every day just to see.....

If that's not enough, the onion family of plants is legendary as far as being fine Companion Plants to many of our favorite ornamentals and vegetables.   Roses are on that list, too.

Ornamental Onions will naturalize in the garden without taking it over - much like Daffodils - making them not only a beautiful choice, but an economical one, as well. 

Grow Ornamental Onions in full-sun and well-worked, well-drained soil, just as you would prepare the soil for onion sets for the table.  The tall ones may need staking if you are in a storm-prone area with sudden high winds.  These plants look top-heavy, but have remarkably sturdy stems.  Just be aware that they WILL topple and break in tornadic winds, so staking is up to you. 

For cut flowers and crafts, hang the flower head upside down and let dry for 6 weeks or until dry.  It will look fantastic until you replace it next year with the new crop. 

Ornamental Onion is an easy to grow, very different, very colorful, great for crafts, great companion, self-propagating but not invasive garden plant that is too often overlooked!  Try it this year, even if that means just letting one single onion in the vegetable garden go to seed....