"Janet" wrote:
In article , nospamigg1937
@yahoo.co.uk says...

I've never grown alliums but have decided to try a few next year.
What are your favourite varieties for reliability and longest
flowering?

I have just bought allium purple sensation. Must get them planted.

http://webassets.rhs.org.uk/content/...lium_hollandic
um_Purple_Sensation_LW?width=510

I never tried them before because I thought the 2 ft stems and large
heads might not survive the high wind we get here; but a couple of
months ago I saw them growing and multiplying in the open, in a far
more exposed windy coastal garden where they had obviously survived
for years.

Norfolk winds probably don't get quite as bad as yours, but I quite
often get stiff winds whipping across the fields at the back of our
house and my main border can get a bashing. I find Purple Sensation
stands up well in flower and the seedheads are still attractive even
after the flower is over - it's usually the drying stems and seedheads
that are more vulnerable to getting knocked over, but planted among
other lower things they seem to manage stay upright on the whole.

It's Allium christophii seedhead stems that I often end up having to
"replant" among surrounding geranium foliage as they're a bit too top
heavy sometimes, but that's no problem really and they can still make a
great contribution even like that.

A. sphaerocephalum seems to last quite well; they have smaller
flowerheads so need planting in decent groups or drifts among lower
perennials.

Alliums take up hardly any space among other plants, which also serve to
mask the dying down allium foliage, so if the OP plants two or three
types that flower at slightly different times, putting them in separate
areas, the flowering period could be stretched out.

--
Sue