Tuesday, May 25, 2010

I take it back!

THIS is my favorite Allium of the moment. Of course it helps that Allium platycaule is going over...this is the onion whose Latin name one must pronounce very carefully: Allium akaka...

It is distributed in Western Asia, and unfortunately it's not widely available commercially. It also does not seem to split its bulb as most alliums do. I have had two bulbs I grew from seed ten or more years ago quietly sitting in the same trough for all that time, just getting bigger and better but not more plentiful....drats! The second one is not as brightly colored, but still charming... Must remember to sow seed!
I know, I know...it looks an awful lot like the Black Mountain onion (Allium karataviense) from mountains a bit further East in Iran and the stans...which is widely available commercially in the Dutch Bulb trade. I suppose it it were the rare one and akaka the common one my opinions woudl flip flop. Truth be said...I love them all!

Allium karataviense

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