Allium neriniflorum

Allium neriniflorum, known more familiarly in the past as Caloscordum neriniflorum is a bulbous plant from Asia. It is native to Mongolia, Siberia and northern China. This species grows at altitudes from sea-level up to 2000m where it favours wet meadows, coastal sand dunes and hillsides.

A. neriniflorum produces an umbel of flowers, with uneven pedicels and a tendency for each flower to open sequentially. This gives the plant a somewhat untidy appearance but, when grown as a ‘clump’, the overall impression is certainly more aesthetic.

It is easily raised from seed and reaches flowering-size maturity in a couple of years from sowing. Grown in a basic 1:1:1 mix, Allium neriniflorum is easily accommodated as a garden plant for a sunny sheltered position or, more pleasingly as a pot plant for the Alpine house or frame.

Author
Ray Drew