Alliums

I was up at the crack of dawn this morning to beat the impending rain showers. It’s a busy time in the garden and particularly rushed when trying to make the most of the English weather.
Today’s plan was to clear one of the raised beds in readiness for the runner beans. Having decided that the cutting flower bed was in need of a makeover I decided that a bit of “crop rotation” was in order. Unfortunately, this required clearing the alliums whilst in full bloom, but rather than dig them up and leave them to die, I quickly gathered as many as I could and put them in large vases of water.

I love these flowers, and have several varieties in the allotment. Sad as it may seem I rarely bring them indoors so don’t actually get the benefit of their beauty. I’m hoping by leaving the cut flowers in vases on the garden table I will see them from the kitchen window and the bees will still get the benefit of them.

Inspired by Haidee-Jo Summers‘ paintings of alliums at Gunby Hall I had tried to transplant some earlier in the year so that they would be in pots on the patio. Unfortunately, having left it too late their leaves quickly withered and died before any flowers had a chance to form. I’m not too disheartened though, as now that they are in pots I can look forward to next spring when they should shoot up and fill the patio with a glorious display of purple heads.

In the meantime, the runner beans must take precedent as rain is forecast later, and this can only be a good thing for the garden.