How to Grow and Care for Prairie Onions (Allium stellatum)

Allium stellatum

Prairie, cliff, pink wild, autumn, or fall glade onion… I’ll simply sit again and let the various widespread names of Allium stellatum inform you all about this gorgeous plant for me.

“Fairly” and “onion” in the identical sentence? Why, sure!

Early within the spring when there isn’t a lot inexperienced displaying within the backyard but, this plant is sprouting leaves.

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When summer time and fall roll round, it supplies delicate pops of sunshine pink to lavender star-shaped blooms, topping every stem in an umbrella-shaped cluster.

I suppose there’s extra to inform you about this plant… such because it’s completely edible, loves dry areas, and repels insect pests and rodents from the backyard.

On this information, I’ll cowl to learn how to domesticate this simple, enticing backyard addition.

Native to central North America, A.stellatum, together with a number of different shut members of the family, have been used as meals and medication by Native People and early settlers for generations.

This onion member of the family is totally edible, from the bulbs to the flowers. The bulbs have been and are eaten uncooked or cooked and the leaves and flowers could also be eaten contemporary.

A. stellatum seems similar to and is well confused with A.cernuum, often known as nodding onion.

Essentially the most noticeable distinction is that nodding onion’s umbel bends downwards. And particular person prairie onion flowers are extra star-shaped than the rounded blooms of A. cernuum.

Fortunately, they’re each edible if you happen to occur to be foraging for wild onion and don’t know the distinction between these two pinkish-purple flowering alliums.

Propagation

This self-pollinating plant is well propagated from seed or bulb divisions.

From Seed

Let flowers bloom and go to seed. Accumulate the small black seeds from the plant in autumn, as soon as the seed head is brown and dry.

The seeds want a interval of chilly stratification earlier than they are going to germinate, so the best choice is to sow the seeds immediately into the bottom within the fall and look ahead to them to germinate the next spring.

Right here’s how:

Sow two to 3 seeds 1/8 inch deep in small pots with drainage holes, full of a soilless porous propagation medium, and hold the medium moist however not soaked.

Preserve the pots in a shiny, 64-72°F spot till the seeds germinate, which generally takes about 56-70 days. When the vegetation are massive sufficient to deal with with out hazard of crushing the contemporary foliage, you may transplant them into your backyard or into containers.

Dig a gap the identical depth and width because the pot, loosen the soil on the sides, rigorously take away the plant, and situate the basis ball within the middle of the opening.

Make certain the crown of the plant isn’t utterly coated in soil – it must be stage with the floor of the soil. Backfill the opening with soil and water in evenly.

Area vegetation 4 to 6 inches aside to permit for satisfactory airflow.

Rising this magnificence from seed is straightforward however it might take a number of years of progress earlier than the plant produces flowers, so making bulb divisions generally is a faster method to multiply the variety of blooms in your backyard.

By Bulb Divisions

As soon as a plant has eight to 10 shoots, or each third 12 months, you may dig up and separate the bulblets from the mother or father bulb.

Plant every new division and the mother or father bulb root facet down about 4 inches deep and 4 to 6 inches aside into loosened soil. Cowl with soil, and water evenly.

How you can Develop

As a drought tolerant, cliff-loving native that’s hardy in Zones 3-8, prairie onions are simple to look after.

Apart from soggy soil, the one different factor these vegetation are illiberal of is competitors with tall, aggressive vegetation that may crowd them out.

Gentle

A. stellatum thrives in full solar. No less than six hours of direct daylight per day is crucial for sturdy flowering and compact progress.

Whereas it will possibly tolerate some mild shade, significantly within the afternoon, extreme shade will result in weak stems and lowered blooming.

For essentially the most putting floral show, decide a web site the place the plant received’t be overshadowed by taller neighbors.

Soil

Prairie onions will fortunately develop in spots that may be inhospitable to different vegetation. They’ll develop in gravel, on limestone cliffs, and in dry sandy soil, loam, or chalky soil.

This plant prefers sandy soils with a pH of 6.6-7.5 however will tolerate your common backyard soil so long as it drains nicely. That’s all they ask.

Temperature and Humidity

Prairie onion is cold-hardy and well-suited to USDA Zones 3 to eight. It tolerates a variety of seasonal temperatures, from icy winters to blazing summer time warmth.

Water

A. stellatum grows fibrous roots from the bottom of its bulbs that attain deep into the soil, and mature vegetation are drought tolerant.

In case you water too usually or if the soil will not be nicely draining, the bulbs are inclined to rot. Water sometimes when the soil is dry to not less than 4 inches down within the absence of rain.

Fertilizer

There is no such thing as a have to exit of your method to feed this plant, however in case you are fertilizing any surrounding vegetation within the backyard, it received’t damage prairie onion to get a bit further vitamin.

Container Rising

Although usually grown within the floor, prairie onions may be cultivated in containers offered a number of key necessities are met.

Use a deep pot with glorious drainage holes and fill it with a gritty, well-draining combine—one thing like cactus potting combine or a mix of loam, sand, and perlite.

Select a container not less than 10 inches deep to permit for root growth.

Water sparingly and place the pot in full solar. Needless to say containerized bulbs might have extra frequent division and replanting each few years to forestall overcrowding.

The place to Purchase

Prairie onion will not be generally present in seed catalogs or at plant nurseries and backyard facilities. In case you discover some rising wild, you might gather seeds to start out your individual, or ask a pal or neighbor for a bulb division.

Prairie Onion Seeds

You will discover A. stellatum seeds obtainable from Everwilde Farms through Amazon.

Upkeep

These low upkeep vegetation require little or no work, and can usually maintain themselves.

Since this plant self sows readily, you might need to take away the seed capsules if you happen to don’t need them rising throughout your backyard.

The foliage dies again throughout or shortly after flowering and may be eliminated if you happen to want a tidy backyard, or left in place to decompose into the soil.

Pests and Illness

Thankfully, there are not any critical insect pests and only a few ailments that have an effect on this plant. The oniony scent repels moles, rabbits, and looking deer.

An infection by Stromatinia cepivora, a soilborne fungus, causes yellowing, wilted foliage and root decay, lastly attacking the bulb. In case your plant is contaminated, you’ll discover white fluffy fungal progress on the base of the bulb.

It’s commonest from midsummer to fall – roughly through the interval when prairie onion is blooming – and thrives in waterlogged soil.

This fungal pathogen can survive within the soil for years. When the soil is dry and not less than 75°F, it’s a a lot much less harmful drawback.

Since bulbs can carry this illness, one of the best ways to keep away from it’s to propagate your vegetation through seed.

In case you discover leaf yellowing and wilting and discover rot on the backside of the bulbs, scale back watering to attempt to stop the illness from progressing.

Finest Makes use of

Rows of this magnificence make lovely quick borders or edges, they do nicely in gravel and rock gardens, and they’ll maintain their very own in wildflower plantings.

Plant with different native perennials, or beautify your vegetable backyard and develop prairie onions close to cabbage members of the family, lettuce, carrots, celery, tomatoes and herbs like dill, parsley, and chamomile.

Fairly in Pink and Smelling of Onion

Don’t decide her. It’s the peak of summer time and he or she’s blooming arduous – she’s allowed to be a bit smelly.

Low upkeep, enticing to pollinators and other people, and joyful to develop in locations different vegetation would wither in? I’m offered on this edible magnificence.

Are you rising prairie onions in your backyard? Tell us within the feedback part under!

And for extra details about rising alliums in your backyard, try these guides subsequent:

© Ask the Specialists, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for extra particulars. Initially revealed February tenth, 2021. Final up to date: Might fifth, 2025. Product picture through Everwilde Farms. Uncredited pictures: Shutterstock. With extra writing and enhancing by Clare Groom and Allison Sidhu.