Thanks, Kim, for the confirmation. I checked on Chinese chives, it's the same as garlic chives mentioned in Field Roebuck's book. He stated, "In at least one controlled experiment, when planted underneath roses, garlic chives completely eliminated spider mites and reduced aphids." Rose magazine site stated that high-nitrogen chemical fertilizer does encourage aphids. The Canadian website that advocated fall fertilization, rather than spring, cited less insect problems with earlier nitrogen fertilization for wheat fields. Garlic chives have white flowers, it is listed among the invasive species. In my experience with invasive species, it's the least invasive, since it can be pulled up easily. It's a tiny bulb - rather than invasive roots. If you cut the flowering stem off before it becomes seeded, then you stop the growth. I was hoping it becomes invasive enough to gather a gallon for making pot stickers -but it did not spread fast enough in our 40" inch annual rain and high germination in magnesium rich soil. I also have the American chives with purple flowers, this is invasive since it spreads by roots. This chives is more drought-tolerant than Garlic, or Chinese chives. Calendula, or potted marigold, is just as pretty but more drought-tolerant than regular marigold. Calendula host many beneficial insects, especially green lacewings. These lacewings fly around and eat Calendula's pollens. But they give birth to larvae, named aphid lion. More info: "Each lacewing larva will devour 200 or more pests or pest eggs a week ... After this stage, the larvae pupate by spinning a cocoon with silken thread... the adult will live about four to six weeks...Each adult female may deposit more than 200 eggs. Nectar, pollen, and honeydew stimulate their reproductive process." What I like the most about garlic chives, or Chinese chives is its medicinal and anti-inflammation properties. It's especially yummy in potstickers, better than green onions. I like Calendula (comes in bright yellow and bright orange), since they are drought tolerant and still bloom during frost. Below is a picture of Calendula in my tomato garden:

Well aimee, it is not that you are safe with specific kinds of bulbs, but there are a few that can grow in clay quite well. From tulips there are so many breeds that it makes no sense to go through all of them, but most top sellers usually can take clay soils reasonably well. Regarding wild tulips however, they do not like to grow in wet rich clay. Some can appear, but they never get to the real glory and some times do not appear at all. Too heavy and too rich in nutrition for them - they would rather grow in a pile of sand, than in a rose bed. With narcissus it depends, I had a good success with the smaller varieties, big fluffy bloom ones often rot here - but they may do better for you with more dry climate. With crocus, giant ones should do ok, but I would advice against species ones, especially not the blue ones - unless it is from the crocus specialist and is specifically clay loving breed (there are selected few, but rather rare and difficult to obtain). You could try some fritilarias, but there are quite a few different kinds and I think only imperials were really clay tolerant (most wild species definitely are not, but they are small enough for small containers). Chionodoxas and scylles were ok for me in clay, but be warned, once you have them, it is impossible to get rid of them, same with muscari - there always will be a bulb left. English and Spanish bells are self seeding weed here. With iris, there again are a lot of kinds, bearded ones can be prone to rot if mulched or rhisomes covered in any other way, dutch iris can rot in clay as well, iris reticulata practically is hopeless in clay (unless you can find a spot where it gets little to no water whatsoever), siberic iris grows on anything really, there also are a few varieties that like to be submerged in water (some NA species among them, but I am not that familiar with them, too cold for them here). With wild lilies, I did not try henryi and speciosum here in soil, but species martagons do not do well - their hybrids however can be an option, since they like heavy loam if it has a good compost added to it. You could probably get away with some most generic Asiatic lilies - they are quite hard to kill really. Orientals and longiflorums however are not a good idea, although some of their hybrids can take a bit of clay. Also some lilies, for example orientals, like soils around Ph 4,5 and generally quite a few lilies like ericaceous conditions, so often they are not good to plant with the roses, which like the opposite most of the time. But if you got a bed of azaleas, rhododendrons, heather and other acid loving plants, they might be a good addition. Ph really is very important with lilies, since even if you got perfect structure, if the Ph is wrong, it does not matter if it is clay or sand, they will hate it.

I have been trying to come up with something that by late April would be tall enough to cover that ugliness, but here is zone 5 I haven't found anything that will beat the allium's early emergence and rapid growth. Behind the allium is a clump of grass and some daylilies around the area but they have a long way to go to be of any help. I do cut back the browned leaves often, but really that doesn't make it look much better. Any suggestions of what to plant that would mask that frost bitten foliage in late April would be appreciated. Echinaceamaniac.. I am looking forward to your spring and summer pics of your new alliums. Your garden pictures are always inspiring.

Hi, I think a lot of things make a difference in where they will grow and survive. I planted Giant Allium a couple of years ago. Last year they did beautifully. This year, they were up about 5 inches and we had a freeze that turned them to black mush. Several days ago I went out and dug them up to see what had happened. Nothing but a bunch of rotted gunk there. I think if I had mulched it good, it would have been better protected and maybe survived. I had two other type that didn't come back either. The ones that did survive were the drumstick and Chrystopherii (sp. ?) I live at an altitude of one mile high in zone 5a. I really don't know how to advise you. But I do know that I will be trying them again. Betty