Allium senescens subsp. montanum var. glaucum

Corkscrew ornamental onion

Ahhh, the bedhead onion. At least, that's what I call it. Although it's really not so much a bedhead as a cowlick -- the bluish-gray, grass-like leaves twirl and rise up around a central axis as if they were frozen in the middle of a miniature tornado.

Although the leaves are interesting (and tasty), the flowers are great. They're a lot like regular garden chives, forming rounded clusters of slightly fragrant pinkish-lavender blooms atop six-inch tall stalks.

It's a pretty tough little onion, tolerating a wide range of conditions. The only key to its survival is good drainage, so I have some planted in gravel beds with Geranium renardii and Lewisia cotyledon 'Regenbogen'.

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