Allium, Memorial Day, Schreiner's Iris Gardens

One of the many things I enjoy about Schreiner's Iris Gardens is the mix of flowering plants on display. Every which way you turn, you see colors, shapes, textures. All that to say, this will not the only photo of allium that I will share with you.

It had been raining most of Sunday night and into Monday morning. I decided, what the hey, I'll get in my Zipcar McMinnville, the Mazda 3, and head on down to spend some quality time among the gardens and to enjoy the superb chicken lunch, cooked by the Gervais Knights of Columbus.

Here's some info about allium that I found on the Internet:

Allium is a monocot genus of flowering plants, informally referred to as the onion genus. The generic name Allium is the Latin word for garlic. The genus, including the various edible onions, garlics, chives, and leeks, has played a pivotal role in cooking worldwide, as the various parts of the plants, either raw or cooked in many ways, produce a large variety of flavors and textures. The genus contains hundreds of distinct species; many have been harvested through human history, but only about a dozen are still economically important today as crops or garden vegetables. Many others are cultivated as ornamental plants.

Onions, shallots and gardlic are members of the allium family that belong in the vegetable garden. But there are many ornamental alliums that deserve a hearty welcome in your perennial gardens. Alliums are plants of exquisite beauty in both flower and leaf, with tough constitutions. These easy-to-grow bulbs come in a broad palette of colors, heights, bloom times and flower forms. They make excellent cut flowers for fresh or dried bouquets. Even crowded gardens can accommodate a few alliums because they don't take up much space. What's more, alliums are relatively resistant to deer, voles, chipmunks, and rabbits.