What are they called

Tall about 2 foot ,on one stem with a purple round ball of flowers.
Think they are bulbs.
Anyone no what I mean.

 

Agapanthus .... especially if you saw them on holiday.

 

I agree with Bob, would go for Alliums, especially as they are purple.

 

Alliums

 

Thats them.
How easy are they to grow.
I love them.

 

Hi Lyn, pretty easy to grow. Bulbs should be available in garden centres for Spring planting. They like a sunny position in well-drained soil. If yours is heavy soil, put a layer of sharp sand or grit under the bulb, pop them in about 3 - 4 inches deep and they should flower in around June/July time.

 

Thank you I am defiantly planting some this year

 

They are lovely Lyn. The ones illustrated look like Allium hollandicum (sometimes called Allium aflatuance) - which grows to about three feet tall and is purple. This is an easy one to find in a garden centre.

However, the one that I like even better is Allium christophii. It only grows to half the height, and is purple blue rather than purple. see http://www.parkseed.com/product_images/8743.jpg The reason that I like this is that the heads are twice the size of A. hollandicum, they flower for twice as long and after flowering the heads last as seed heads for much longer the A. hollandicum. A. christophii is also very popular and easy to find. But don't just get one kind - get both.

Another one worth getting too is Allium sphaerocephalon, which is easier to find than to pronounce. http://www.fairyscapedaylilies.com/Allium sphaerocephalon July11.jpg It's a very small bulb, so you get many more for your money that the other two. It flowers later than the others, and I have found that it multiplies well in my garden, unlike the others which keep coming back but don't multiply on their own.

 

I have a patch of ground ready to plant something in after we had to cut some bushes down in the autumn to mend the fence.
I might just get a lot of different ones and fill the gap.
They are all lovely.
When should I start to plant them Blackthorn said spring . March ?

 

I would think March should be fine Lyn.

As PeterS says, there are quite a lot of varieties to choose from, A. Christophii is one of my favourites too. So you could have 2 or 3 different ones

As they are tall and the foliage is not very ornamental, you could plant some small shrubs or later-lowering perennial plants and pop the alliums in between them. They go particularly well with grasses, I have the A Christophii amongst some bronze carex and Bowles Golden Grass.

 

The first lot of my Alliums have arrived today.
Allium sensation.
More on the way. :gnthb:

 

Beautiful Lyn, I will just give a nod to the seed bank thread here because there are some ( or were) Allium seeds in there.

They take two years before you will see flowers but as you can sow them and just leave them-and as they are so expensive to buy as bulbs I thought, you know, as a new fan to alliums, you may be interested.


When I see flower heads on the ones I got off there I will gladly send you some of the seeds with pleasure.

 

If anyone wants to sow Allium seeds, now is the time to do it. Sow them outside in the cold. You can put plenty in a deep pot, but only cover the seeds very lightly. They will produce a few small leaves in the first year, but by putting them in a deep pot you can leave them for a second year in the same pot. I think they won't flower in the second year, but after the leaves die down you can harvest the small bulbs and pot them up individually.

But you must sow them now outside in the cold - they need cold to germinate.

 

Three years then Peter? I thought I had this seed to bulb cycle cracked doh!


Mine were sown into coir pots then after a brief spell in the greenhouse I put them outside (from your advice I think)and covered them with leaf mould. They are against the back of the garage under a big rhoddie.

 

I've had leeks flower in their second year from seed, fabulous.