The Aliums have started to come out and they look stunning against the dark grey backdrop of the garden fence. We painted the fence dark grey so that it will complement the plants that are in front of it, and also prolong its life. Allium Hollandicum Purple Sensation is one of the more common and most popular of the Allium cultivars. They have a striking silhouette which makes them particularly well suited to a variety of planting schemes, and they also look fab in pots or mixed borders. They have a densely packed cluster of deep purple, star-shaped flowers that appear in early summer above strap-shaped grey-green leaves. These leaves can start to die off early, even by the time the flowers start to appear above it. The flowers will appear in June and will usually only last until the end of the month, but the green seed heads that are left behind can add just as much interest and structure to your planting scheme.
I like to plant these within other plants to hide this foliage as it can be unsightly. They can team up well then with things like herbaceous geraniums or ornamental grasses, which will help mask these leaves as they die off. I often plant them with other varieties of Alliums that flower later to prolong the period of interest, and the best thing about Alliums is that bee’s love them, and that can only be a good thing.
