About
Allium cupuliferum is a bulbous perennial characterized by its wide, strap-like leaves that are a mid-green hue. The plant typically reaches heights of up to 50 cm, featuring upright stems that support clusters of pink flowers. These flower heads start out tightly packed but gradually become looser as the stalks elongate and the blooms mature. Flowering occurs in the mid to late summer months.
About the genus
Allium consists of bulbous herbaceous perennials characterized by a pronounced onion or garlic aroma. They feature linear, strap-like, or cylindrical leaves that arise from the base. The flowers, which can be star-shaped or bell-shaped, are arranged in an umbel atop a stem that lacks leaves.
Growing conditions
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil type
- Chalk, Loam, Sand
- Soil pH
- Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
- Soil moisture
- Moist but well-drained, Well-drained
- Aspect
- South-facing, West-facing
- Exposure
- Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H6
Plant details
- Plant type
- Bulbs
- Habit
- Clump forming
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Height
- 0.1-0.5 metres
- Spread
- 0-0.1 metre
- Time to full height
- 1-2 years
- Suggested uses
- Cottage and informal garden, Patio and container plants, Wildflower meadow, Wildlife gardens, City and courtyard gardens
- Fragrance
- Foliage
- Toxicity
- TOXIC to pets - see the HTA guide to potentially harmful plants for further information and useful contact numbers
Care notes
- Cultivation
- Easy to grow in full sun and a fertile well-drained soil. It is best to grow in containers where garden soil is heavy clay and prone to saturation over winter. See allium cultivation
- Pruning
- No pruning required, other than to remove old flowered stems and foliage
- Propagation
- Propagate by seed, sowing in containers in a cold frame when just ripe or in the spring and by offsets which can be carefully detached by lifting the bulb after flowering has finished. See bulb propagation
- Pest resistance
- May be susceptible to slugs, snails and allium leaf miner
- Disease resistance
- May be susceptible to onion white rot, and onion downy mildew