Growing Peonies & Allium In Your Garden
Tips for growing peonies & allium from a DIY gardener. Learn from my mistakes and get beautiful blooms that will take your garden to the next level!
When I write gardening posts like this one, I always feel that I should begin with a disclaimer. I am not a master gardener. In fact, I’m not an expert in anything related to gardening. I am, however, someone who continually tries to make her garden a happy place and something that’s beautiful. I have made many mistakes, but I have learned from them and with each one, my garden gets better.Â
Today I’m talking about a new addition to my garden, allium, and I’ll be sharing an update on my peonies. Both of these plants have incredible blooms and are very easy to grow.
Allium, pronounced [al – ee – uhm,] is a show-stopping addition to any garden. Last fall, I ordered eight allium bulbs and got them in the ground just before it froze. I was worried the blooms would not appear, but I wasn’t disappointed. As you can see from the images above and below, the blooms are large, round, and the prettiest shade of lavender.Â
Tips for planting and growing allium:
- I think it would be better to plant these allium bulbs in the back of your garden. They would make a beautiful backdrop and when they fade, you won’t have an empty spot in the front of your garden.Â
- Allium bulbs can be moved after the foliage is spent. I am going to move mine to the back of my garden, right in front of the fence.Â
- Allium ‘Globemaster’ is big. I don’t know if it’s the biggest cultivar, but it’s surely at the top of the list. It’s very tall and the stems are extremely thick. I did not cut mine because the blooms were just too beautiful.Â
- When the blooms are spent and the foliage is dried up, it can all be cleared away. Don’t remove the foliage until it is completely brown.
- Deer, chipmunks, and other critters avoid allium, so if that’s an issue, this plant is for you.Â
- Some other options:
- ‘Pinball Wizard’ is similar to ‘Globemaster’ but has shorter stems.
- ‘Early Emperor’ blooms about two weeks before the other allium cultivars.
- ‘Purple Sensation’ is a bit shorter (at 24 to 30 inches) and has a smaller bloom.
Growing Peonies
My peonies did well this year. They even survived a terrible hail storm, which as you can see by the photo above, the dianthus did not. One day the dianthus was blooming and vibrant, the next it was completely smashed.Â
The dark pink peonies are ‘Kansas’ and the small bushes in front are a soft pink cultivar called ‘Elk Grove.’ The soft pink bushes were new last year, so there are just a couple of buds that have not opened yet. My dark pink peonies are getting a bit leggy, and the blooms, although beautiful, were all on the top. I did a little research and discovered that the legginess comes from placing the plants too close together. Another one of those mistakes I talked about at the beginning of this post!
Anyway, I have to decide by fall if I want to move them or not. I may just remove the center plant (there are three) and place it somewhere else. That would at least give me a better chance at having two healthy plants as opposed to losing all three.
*The clematis growing on the trellis is ‘Viola.’ I will share pictures if and when it ever blooms!
One thing I was very happy about this year was that the peonies did not bloom all at once. They took their time and about six blooms opened at a time. I was able to cut the blooms in stages, which enabled me to have fresh flowers inside for a few weeks.
Growing peonies and allium is easy, and I highly recommend both. I am going to order some ‘Purple Sensation’ allium bulbs for fall planting, so I will have a smaller cultivar that I can cut and bring inside. My yard and gardens are still very much a work in progress. Our patio project was finally started, but is going slowly because we have had so much rain. I’ll be back to share more on that when it gets a bit further along.
You might also like:
Tips and Tricks for Arranging Peonies
*Affiliate links included. Click HERE for my disclosure statement.
Shop & Source:Â
- white birdhouse
- white trellis (similar)
- golfer weathervane
Thank you again for your friendship and for spending part of your day with me. See you soon…