Allium bed

A beautiful display :-))

Thanks Annella..they just do it themselves....I just let them seed themselves . Occasionally taking a few stems inside as they make great dried flower displays for over the winter too. I would never be without my alliums!

I am going to plant some bulbs, I read your comment to Scotsgran about them self seeding :-))

Wow what a show. These are wonderful. I know the foliage dies down as the flowers come to the fore which is why I chose to put my alliums in the border with the red hot pokers which flower later. What else are you growing in that bed and will the alliums exclude any other plants by self seeding.

they are beautiful,i love your little fence too.

Thank you very much,Annella,Scotsgran and Suey.....first of all - those little rustic fences are all round my garden and flower beds as one of my two old rescue labradors is totally blind but she manages to find her way around and knows not to cross the fences...LOL The other dog is rather arthritic - like me (!) and also keeps off the plants!
As for what grows with alliums - I think anything does that enjoys the same sort of conditions...as my garden is a woodland one - that bed is under a big cherry tree as you can see and has a lot of hellebores in among them. The other patch I have developed - thanks to birds I guess - are among ferns. I am afraid I don't do formal planting - things just get on with it!!!! Nowadays I am confined to trough/planter and hanging basket gardening...LOL

Formal planting is for those disciplined few. I think most of us prefer to see the ground covered at all times if only to keep the weeds down or even to hide them lol. Great idea for the dogs to help them get around.

Aye...discipline was never high on my agenda Scotsgran!!!

They are beautiful! mine are starting to spread around too ;0))

I like it when they do that Panyspotter ....but then in my wilderness garden there are no holds barred (or holes banned as one cheery neighbour said!!)...LOL

They look lovely Alz......I'm getting more and more tempted to get some......and forget that OH doesn't like them....I can just say " I don't know where they have come from pet".....lol......

A little bird might have dropped them Amblealice. lol

....and that.....lol :-o))

I love these. Mine are just coming into bud now. I wondered if they would decrease in vigour each year, but encouraged by your comments about them increasing!

The ones I planted last year seem to be coming up stronger but I am a little bit concerned about the numbers of self sown seedlings popping up everywhere.
I will have to wait and see which ones have increased and which I can treat as discards. I do enjoy seeing them en masse like this Alz it is very effective.

Yes, they look great in big drifts!

I don't think alliums know what the words "decrease in vigor" mean folks!! Certainly those ones don't....I started off as I say with a dozen that I planted deliberately. They did the rest themselves - with nothing more than an annual mulch of leaf mould - a lot of which is donated by the cherry tree above....LOL
I have never had seedlings all over the garden - just the one which as I say was probably a bird - or even a mistake by myself - but I didn't mind - they look great among a patch of ferns!! But then - that is my kind of garden.....untamed!!

I made the mistake of cutting mine and hanging them upside down in a bag which was supposed to be hung in the garage but was forgotten and left to hang under the pergola. As the seeds ripened they would have been scattered by the wind. It is exciting to watch seedlings grow when you are not exactly sure what to expect.

Oh dear - you are obviously a gardener like me...good intentions ...LOL What a lovely story - no wonder they "found their way" all over the garden....GREAT!
I too enjoy seeing things sprouting through the gravel etc - as they are obviously happy - and if I approve - I leave 'em to flourish!!

Isn't it annoying that you buy seed compost to give your seeds the best chance in life and the few which escape on to the gravel grow like weeds. I do not buy seed compost now I rake around for soil pockets which have blown in to a convenient corner and use that. It is much more effective than any bought in compost.

Definitely - and if you happen to have any moles anywhere nearby....the soil they send up is THE most wonderful seed sowing compost ever!! When I was a very active seed-growing gardener (now reduced to plug plants thanks to osteo-arthritis!!) I used to be seen - pail in hand wandering alone scooping up mole hills....LOL Great results - guaranteed;>>))

We have done that too. My mother used to send us off to get some for her seedlings but I have not seen that many mole heaps around the last few years.