Allium bulbs are great. The large globe shaped flowers will add a bit of whimsy to any garden. What’s not to love? What’s not to love is the dying foliage that happens while the plant is in all its glory. It’s not recommend to remove the foliage of any bulb before it turns completely tan and withers. The plant needs to gain as much energy from Chlorophyll as possible before it’s long slumber. One thing that we do to lessen the ugliness is to cut the dying foliage multiple times through spring. The leaf browns from the outermost tip and progresses down to the base over spring. As soon as a portion of the leaf gets brown, we remove it. We are only on most of our clients gardens monthly, it’s hard to keep up with removing yellowing Allium foliage. A trick we’ve learned to minimize maintenance is to plant bulbs behind larger plants. This way, it’s not that important to remove the foliage because the plant in the foreground hides all the ugly. In the picture above, look how the Allium flowers appear just above the Holly. The perfect companion plant for Allium bulbs. Happy gardening!
