If you don't cut the seed heads off of 'Purple Sensation', the parent plants don't seem to mind. BUT the dang things also seed like mad, and the seedlings are a bit smaller-flowered than the parent plants. You won't know this for 3 to 5 years, at which point you will have a purple lollipop farm. The seedlings are VERY low-key and easy to miss, especially in mixed plantings. Right now I'm leaving all seedheads on in the front garden, where I could stand to have some more Alliums. The back garden gets deadheaded ruthlessly. Lisa

if you have a hybrid type of grass, it can produce seeds but they won't be viable. basically the grass is sterile. abotu the best thing i cna tell you would be to try them. if it works, great, if not then you tried and now know you jsu tneed to go pick up a bag of seed to fill in the sandy areas. while you are at it, add in some organic material to mix with teh sand. if the areas a pure sand, grass really won't make it any better.

They do dry fairly well. We concentrate on A. sphaerocephalum and A. caeruleum/azureum. You can pick them when the heads are very tight but show color or when they're just starting to open. I think the best setup for drying is a horizontal screen of hardware cloth, but you can also hang them upside down. Chives are also good, but pick them before they start to open, when the buds are large but there's still a purple "skin" over the flowers just beginning to split and let the blooms out -- they will open as they dry. A. schuberti is very striking when dry, but it's difficult to use in mised bouquets. It's easiest to just let it dry in the field. No color, just a nice weird form. A. "Hair" is another weird one, not to everyone's taste; we treat it like A. spaerocephalum. We don't dig the bulbs up, have never tried eating them. I replant A. caeruleum every year, since they tend to behave like annuals. A. sphaerocephalum seems to need replanting every 2-3 years. A. "Hair" self-seeds -- not to the point of despair, but don't get started on it if you think there may come a time when you couldn't stand to see another one. There are more that I'll probably try in future years, including regular onions.

I slice very thing ginger and put it in a jar with a little sugar and sherry wine. It also keeps very well in that too. For the most flavor and aroma, a dehydrator cannot be beat when it comes to fast drying. Always be sure that the item is also totally dry before its stored. If it has residual traces of moisture, it can cause mold to grow, even if its in an air tight container. Chives are actually better tasting if they are freeze dried, but we haven't that technology at home.