Allium cernuum
The seraphic , airy umbel of the flower of nodding onions fill a much - needed niche in the garden .
Blooming at the altitude of summertime in hot , cheery locations with ironic soils , these wildflowers prosper where others falter .
apply them in a rock garden , along a brightly fire up woodland edge , or in a long forgotten meadow .
Photo by Patrick Alexander, Wikimedia Commons, via Public Domain.
We relate to trafficker to help you find relevant products . If you grease one’s palms from one of our links , we may gain a commission .
Read on to find out more about growing this North American native that ’s a favorite of bees and other pollinators .
Here ’s what we ’ll cover :
Photo by Patrick Alexander, Wikimedia Commons, via Public Domain.
What You’ll Learn
What Are Nodding Onions?
A fellow member of the amaryllis mob , Amaryllidaceae , Allium cernuumis anornamental alliumthat – if you dig it up – look a lot like the culinary staple fiber you might have eaten for dinner last night .
Grocery storage onions and nodding Allium cepa , also known as lady ’s leek , are coinage in theAlliumgenus , and both mature a stout , biting , underground medulla oblongata .
The medulla of nodding onions are much smaller and narrower than those we typically expend for cookery and theyareedible . Several narrow-minded , grass - like leaf , which also sense powerfully of onions , rise from the neck of the elongated bulb .
The flower stalks can grow up to 30 inches tall and emerge from the base of the leaf in summer , supporting an candid clustering of pendant flowers ranging in color from white to pale lavender to rap .
Just below the umbel , the shaft bow downward like a crook - plow walking stick , giving the plant their “ nodding ” appearance .
In late summertime and early fall , flower heads dry and form papery capsules that divide open to reveal mountain of hard , bright shameful seeds .
Hardy in Zones 4 to 9 , this garlic relative can be find oneself growing wild across most of North America . prefer bluff edge and rocky rock outcrop , nodding onion plant does n’t really take off and disperse unless it ’s planted in nutritious soils .
In the more moist , plenteous soils of riparian home ground , or in fertile meadow , this metal money can colonise large areas by ego - seeding .
Keep reading to learn how to get this North American native established in your own garden .
Nodding Onion Propagation
Nodding onion plant can be grown from seed , via offset , or transplants you purchase from the glasshouse .
The process for all three method acting is pretty square . These plants are in truth a breeze to mature .
From Seed
StartingA.cernuumfrom cum is a fun , rewarding cognitive operation that typically yields lots of new plants .
To gather up your own seed , set forth to keep an heart on the flower when they are in bloom in the summer .
If you are planning to collect cum from wild populations , ensure that you have license to enter the area and only take about 10 pct of the seeds .
When the farewell have maturate and the upright umbel turn light brown , snap off the tops of the seed head with your fingers and collect them in a paper pocketbook .
Let these seed headway dry in a tray in a cool , well - ventilated , murkily lit place until the capsules split open to unveil black , shiny seeds . I like to use my closet for line - dry out seeds .
Prepare a planting tray with moisten potting soil . scattering the seed liberally across the surface of the soil .
Gently press them into the surface of the soil with the thenar of your hand to control good soil contact then scatter several smattering of moist pot stain across the surface of the tray so the seeds are barely covered .
Move your tray somewhere outdoors that ’s protected from wind and extreme temperature fluctuations .
You want the seed to receive unchanging , cold temperatures for a full point of 30 to 60 days . This appendage , called cold stratification , prepares the seeds for germination . Keep the potting land evenly moist but not waterlogged .
In the outpouring , pull your embed tray out into a positioning that receives full sun and make indisputable the soil stays moist , but not soaking wet .
After germination hap , your tray will look like it ’s on the spur of the moment growing a whin of green grass !
Rest see , these are your Modern babe nod onion . When they are about an inch tall , thin out the seedling so there is at least half an in of space between each works .
Once your seedling get to a few inches mellow you could move them into their own fain pots . Two- to four - inch pots or cells work nicely for this .
Fill the containers with moist potting dirt and horn in hole with a spliff or pencil . Carefully transfer the tiny bulbs .
Keep the potting medium evenly moist and typeset the mess in an area that ’s protect from wind and incur full sun . The plants can be transplanted into the garden in downfall or the following natural spring .
As an easier alternative , you could simply circulate smart nod onion plant seed into the garden now after collection .
cook the orbit for sowing by gently raking the airfoil of the stain and then raking again once the ejaculate is cast . water system generously after sow in , and permit Mother Nature take care of the rest .
From Offsets
Almost all appendage of theAlliumgenus cast petty baby medulla oblongata or “ offsets ” on the original bulb .
Digging up and separating offset printing then replanting them is one of the easiest ways to increase your patch of nodding onion plant , although it will take about two year for these baby bulbs to mature to flowering size .
In the drop , after the folio of the plants have shrivel up aside and their flowers have set seed , mildly pry up the bulb . verify to do this very carefully to prevent damage to the bulb .
It ’s well-heeled to get a little fanatical while fag and split your plants ’ bulbs in two . habituate a larger shovel than you call up you ’d need and employ your fingers to tease the bulbs softly out of the soil .
cautiously separate the offsets from the parent incandescent lamp and replant them about two to three inches deep and about four in asunder . verify you replant the original bulbs too .
Transplanting
Whether you have take up your own baby nod onion from seed , purchased plants from a baby’s room , or are replant counterbalance , transplant is a simple cognitive operation .
check that you select a location in the garden with full sun and freely draining land .
Dig a hole late enough so that your medulla oblongata are planted at the same deepness as they were in the passel they are presently mature in .
In the case of offsets , plant them two to three inch deep . Backfill the hole with territory around your plants and water system well .
How to Grow Nodding Onions
As with most flora , the secret to grow a happy , thriving patch of nodding onions is prefer the ripe positioning .
In the wild , they grow in a variety of places , including open meadows , rocky outcrops , and cheery , forest glades .
The one feature these various habitats have in common is freely draining soil and sizeable light photo .
Generally mouth , bulb tend to not do well in wet to systematically dampish soils , and nodding onion is no exception .
GrowA. cernuumsomewhere with abundant sunshine , though a small afternoon shade is hunky-dory , particularly in warm locations , and verify the soil drains well . Even hot , wry soils do n’t bother nodding onions .
This metal money can abide sand and some the Great Compromiser as well , so long as it wo n’t become waterlogged or ride out damp for too long .
The idealistic stain pH is 6.0 to 7.0 , but the plants will tolerate alkaline soil and are even suitable for growing nearblack walnut trees , as they aretolerant of juglone .
Thriving inUSDA Hardiness Zones4 to 9 , nod onions can tough it out in all but the coldest climates .
implant these medulla oblongata in a garden bottom adjacent to a south facing wall or within the protection of a rock garden might allow you to grow nodding onions in Zones 3 , or down , as well .
Once established , just enjoy the tenacity of this robust metal money . Fertilization is not required , nor is supplemental watering , unless you have a real drought with no rainfall for more than two workweek .
Growing Tips
Maintenance
A wonderfully unfussy indigene , there ’s not much to do when it comes to taking upkeep of nod onions .
In late summer , after flowering , the leaves will start to soften , turn yellow , and die back . At this point in time , you could murder and compost the foliage to tidy up the garden .
To see if your plants ’ folio are truly ready to be removed , just give them a gentle tugboat . If they come forth well in your paw , they ’re quick . If they do n’t , let them be for another week or two .
The dry flower heads that stand above the wilt leaf will soon mature and reveal batch of shiny , black seeds .
If you do n’t want to allowA. cernuumto spread throughout the garden , take the peak head before the seed ripens . A good time to do this is good after unfolding , but any point before mid - fall will do the trick .
Nodding onion spread particularly well in the nutritive - rich soils commonly found in garden bed , on the edges of timberland areas , and untended lawn . In wry , rocky situations , they tend to proliferate much more slowly , if at all .
Nodding Onion Cultivars to Select
If you require to get started raise nod onion plant in your garden , you’re able to find plantsavailable at Nature Hills Nursery .
Nodding Onion
There are a few cultivar available as well , mostly with minor variance in prime semblance .
Hidcote
Winner of the honored Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit in 1993 , ‘ Hidcote ’ grows up to 13 inch mellow and boasts adorable rose colored clusters of flowers .
Blooming slenderly earlier in the summer than the uncoiled specie and other cultivars , ‘ Hidcote ’ is a real favorite for tardy fountain displays . This cultivar is hardy in USDA Zones 3 to 9 .
Leo
‘ Leo ’ grows a short taller than other cultivars at almost 30 inches tall . The flower heads are blanched , and more densely clustered , too .
Notably , ‘ Leo ’ is typically in full bloom in August , after in the summertime than the metal money and other cultivars .
Oxy White
Once regarded as a separate species , A. oxyphilum , this white - flowered variety is now considered a human body ofA. cernuum .
Hardy in USDA Zones 4 to 9 , the flower of ‘ Oxy White ’ are a trivial more airy and delicate than the true species .
Managing Pests and Disease
Blissfully problem - free , there is very little in the pest and disease department to rightfully plague nodding onion .
Most event rise up when these light bulb are improperly situate in systematically wet soils . Give these aboriginal wildflowers the freely draining substrate they desire and they ’ll grow quite happily and without trouble .
Pests
Thanks to its strong aroma , not very many insects bother nodding onion . There ’s really only one to see out for , and that ’s thripid ( Thrips tabaci ) .
These pesky insect are about teeny tiny , about a twelfth of an in long , pale John Brown in color , and have delicate , laciniate wings . Their young look similar , minus the wing .
Although thrip can get problem for all extremity of theAlliumgenus , they also feed oncucumbers , tomatoes , andcabbages .
feed hurt on nod onion seem as clean to silver blotches on leaves , droop foliage , reduced electric light size , as well as decreased inflorescence and pollen production .
Female thrips get up to eight raw generations of untried per yr , put egg on the undersurface of the leaves .
population expand most quickly in live , dry weather when industrial plant may already be emphasize .
To avoid damage from these pests , keep your nod onion while in good wellness . Site plants in an appropriate location , in freely run out soil with plenty of sunlight .
Fortunately , A. cernuumis not very susceptible to these insects and should n’t suffer too much terms from an plague .
you could learn more about how to manage thrips in our guide .
Disease
Unlike its veg full cousin , there are almost no disease that plague this idle genus Allium .
The two issues you may encounter are easily avoided by sitingA. cernuumin the freely draining soil it loves .
Downy Mildew
A common disease of all the plant within theAlliumgenus , fluffy mildew is cause by a water mold , Peronospora destructor , that expand in high humidity and cool temperature .
Spores land on the leafage and cause discolored splotches , yellowing leaves , and even dieback .
This disease is easily control by watering at the base of the plants , rather than from operating cost . If you mark any affected plants , remove the entire bulb and destroy it .
PlantingA. cernuumin full sun , in freely debilitate soils will almost completely protect these plants from puberulent mildew contagion .
White Rot
Another disease common to the edible onion we produce in our vegetable garden , white rot , a fungal disease caused byStromatina cepivorum , is not commonly see inA. cernuum .
If you hap to get very unlucky and discover this fungus infect your wildflowers , you ’ll comment yellowing , dying foliage .
Underground , the medulla oblongata will plow blackened and waste . deplumate your plants immediately and destroy them by fling in the food waste . You emphatically do n’t want to spread this destructive pathogen elsewhere in the garden .
Thankfully , white rot is once again easily avoided by planting your nodding onions in the freely draining soils and sunny locating they choose .
Best Uses for Nodding Onions
warmth and drought tolerant , A. cernuumis a terrifying selection for the stone garden .
Nodding Allium cepa also do well when institute at the bang of a woodland area , where the plants receive partial shade in the afternoon .
Beds formed around heat absorbent airfoil , like a driveway , can also be a good plaza to get the plants fan out , to add some color to an otherwise inhospitable place .
As a fairly dainty wildflower , this species really looks unspoiled when institute en masse , their pendant head nod in the summertime breeze .
It also proliferate very well from source , if given the chance . In thecottageornative wild flower gardennodding onion fills in gaps between other perennial , pass on a soupcon of the wild .
Quick Reference Growing Guide
Overlooked Easy Keeper
Not many nurseryman imagine of nod onion plant when they imagine a spread of beautiful wildflowers .
But these native bulb are bad as nails and prosperous to grow . There are few blossom that can vie with nodding onion ’s power to colonize spicy , dry position , and fewer still that can put on such a beautiful display under such challenging conditions .
If you ’re despairing for summer wildflowers , but lack the rich dirt many blooming plants demand , try this piffling allium on for size in your own garden . You wo n’t regret it .
Do you grow nodding onions in your garden or have you ever seen them in the wild ? Please tell apart us about your experience ! . Comments and questions are always welcome – we love to take heed from you !
And tolearn more about get other character of genus Allium , check out these guides next :
© Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . Product photo via Nature Hills Nursery . Uncredited picture : Shutterstock .
About
Molly Marquand
