Hi again, I see that picture is pictured in the blog linked below and it says that it is, "perhaps 'Gladiator' or 'Globemaster'? " To further maybe confuse things, you might look at Google images for allium gladiator seedhead and also Google images of allium Globemaster seedhead. If you hover cursor over each thumbnail picture, you will see a picture description. I'd say you can't go wrong by buying either one of them. Here is a link that might be useful: scroll down to see the exact picture.

Well I never sent the pics to any experts but the heads did keep bending and curling and changing shape everyday until just before they started to bloom. Most of the heads went completely straight, and a couple remained a slight bit crooked. The flower stalks spread out more than I liked, so I wasn't really happy with the way it looked. I tried to stake them, but it didn't do too much for the appearance. I ended up cutting back most of the stalks when they were 1/2 way done blooming in hopes of rebloom of smaller spikes. I think my clay soil may be too rich for them. This was two weeks ago:

Hi SusiQ, I'm fairly new at growing alliums, but here are some basics. First, you need to distinguish between ornamental alliums (basically, the named varieties) and edible alliums like garlic and onion. The ones grown for flowers are the ornamentals. 1. Allium with a short a - like alley - um. 2. Ornamental allium bulbs are perennial. You just leave them in the ground and they come back, and even multiply, next year. (Having said that, I am in zone 4, I don't know if zone 7 is too hot for that. Your local nursery or master gardener program should be able to tell you.) 3/4. As I mentioned, the named varieties (Globemaster, drumstick, etc.) are ornamentals. The bulbs are not meant to be eaten. I believe they are classified as onions. 5/6. Garlic isn't generally grown for the flowers, but for the bulbs. As you noticed, garlic smells like garlic. The ornamentals I grow don't smell. 7. Don't know, I've never tried them. 8. I have an allium caeruleum in a vase right now because it fell over in the garden. It was in the garden for at least a week before I picked it and has been in the vase for about 5 days now and still going strong. (The allium in the garden have been going for a couple of weeks and still look great despite an incredible June hot spell of 90's for the last week (by comparison, the rose buds bloomed and wilted within two days in this heat). Well, that's about all I know. Good luck with your flower selling. Marne

I grow lots of onions and I'm not sure why, other than liking to eat onions, appreciating the variety of choices, ease of storage, gardening success . . . oh, those may be the reasons!! With our very cold Spring, alliums are the only things I've planted so far this year in the open garden. I don't have any growing problems with sets. They provide early scallions and later yellow, storage onions. Like David, the last few have only recently departed the basement shelves where they spent the Winter. Sweet onions are wonderful, of course, and I've grown them for years from seeds. I've tried sowing both early in the greenhouse, direct seeding in the garden, and after the 1st rains of late Summer for overwintering. Starting them in the greenhouse has been best even tho' handling the transplants is difficult because of their tiny size. Lately, I've ordered onion plants from Dixondale and appreciate the HUGE bulbs when they mature. I can get a real jump on the season by using that Texas farm. Leeks have been in my garden the last few years. I had no idea that they would be successful in this arid of a climate. (Welsh people . . . leeks . . . Wales is arid? No.) I'm not sure how well they store because there are just a few by November to put in the fridge. Leeks are so good in leek and potato soup! And, anywhere you'd be inclined to chop up and sauté a yellow onion - you can use a leek instead. This will be the 1st year for me to try shallots from seed. I'll direct-seed them soon. What I'm really hoping is that they will make nice "starters" for 2009. For a long time, I've had shallots from bulbs that I bring in every Winter and replant in the Spring. Unfortunately, they aren't much more productive than that . . . oh, I do eat a few in between times. They are great! I'm also hoping this new-to-me shallot from seed will be a little more productive. Regarding productivity - it took awhile for me to realize that onions bulbs are leaves NOT roots. They are the base of the leaves and so the requirements of the leaves should be the focus for growing . . . and fertilizing. Like any leaves, they need lots of nitrogen. My choice for fertilizer is Whitney Farms "natural lawn food." At 8-2-4, it seems to be just what the onions want. I've noticed that onion farmers always side-dress with a high-nitrogen fertilizer mid-season no matter what they put into their seed beds in the Spring. Mid-season in the leeks, I apply fish emulsion (4-4-4). Another advantage with onions, I can plant them in the shady corner of my smaller veggie garden. The only sunlight there is until about mid-morning. And, unlike having salad veggies in that location, the pheasants don't eat 'em. digitS'