An adventure in Alliums!

[Palustris]

Actually only one Allium. The flowers are about 3 inches across on a plant no more than 9 inches high Sadly the leaves begin to die as the plant flowers.

Allium nevskianum.

[ideasguy]

Nice plant and very good photo Eric!
It is sad about the leaves. Its nice to see the flowers on lush foliage, but if thats its characteristics then so be it - it has made up for it with very stunning flowers .

[Palustris]

I think when it is on show they growers remove the leaves, but whether that affects future flowering I do not know and I am not showing so I will leave them to die down naturally.

[ideasguy]

I'd say that is best for the plant, if they are anything like Daffs etc.
Am I right in saying that the leaves of Daffs should not be cut down until about 6 weeks after flowering?

[Palustris]

Better not cut down at all really, but yes at least 6 weeks.

[ideasguy]

Thanks Eric. I have some growing on the edge of my lawn, and its always a temptation to run the lawnmover over them before that 6 weeks is up. In actual fact, I wait until they have died well away, as I never make a note of when they stopped flowering .

When do Allium leaves wither away? (I don't grow any, as yet)

[Palustris]

Depends on the type. Some keep their leaves until Autumn, some lose them before flowering and some as flowering starts. You would need to ask about specific ones. For example the big Drumstick ones are usually leafless by the time to flower opens, A. moly keeps its leaves until late Summer and A. thunbergii has leaves which are dying as the thing flowers.

[ideasguy]

Thanks Eric. Do you find they spread?

[Palustris]

Some types are as thuggish as Ground elder. Wild garlic is the worst of the native ones, but Allium oreophyllum/owstrowskianum/farreri/whatever it is called today is a dreadful seed weed. A. flavum is a close second. All of them have the potential to spread widely from seed, but some are more welcome than others. For example I have a path full of baby A. karataviense Ivory Queen waiting to die down to be repostioned. Some of the others spread by bulb division, but not so badly. Basically you need to dead head rather assiduously.

[ideasguy]

I'm glad I asked Eric.

I have one very pretty white flower - Ive never positively identified it yet - inherited with this (my dads) house.
Possibly Scilla.
It started in a bed at the front. Now it has spread to the side, back - everywhere!
Problem is, it self seeds, and Ive observed by attempting to dig up the bulbs that the seedlings immediately develop a root shoot which dives straight underground. The bulbs are formed in Australia, and so numerous they are almost impossible to eradicate when in the wrong spot.

Are those rampant varieties of Allium something similar?

[Palustris]

Yes, that and the sheer number of them.
Post a pcture of your white bulb and I am sure one of us could have a guess at identifying it. Scilla (true, not Hyacinthoides) usually have a fairly surface root at first. Hyacinthoides hispanica has a deeply delving root like that.

[ideasguy]

I think I have it in another topic on the forum Eric. I'll do a search this evening