What Flower Bulbs Look Like Onions

Nodding onion allium cernuum produces flopping mop heads of flowers in pretty shades of pink and purple.

What flower bulbs look like onions.

The bulbs look like onions but do not smell like onions. True bulbs such as daffodils tulips hyacinths and snowdrops often have a papery skin or tunic on the outside much like an onion. Its small quarter inch cream or white colored flowers are six parted and the petals have a green heart shaped structure on them. Inside a true bulb is a central shoot that contains layers of leaves and immature flowers.

They do best in well drained alkaline soil kept dry during their winter dormancy. Some cultivars to look for include ozawa with larger purple flower heads and alba which has white cup shaped florets. Overwintered dry in basement. Numerous flowers grow on in pointy clusters on showy stalks above the leaves.

Bulbs with a papery covering are called tunicate bulbs the tunic helps protect the bulb from drying out when it s resting or waiting to be planted. Schubert s allium is a spring flowering bulb with strap like foliage that is planted in the autumn. Looks like an amaryillis that wants to be an orchid seem to flower best when left undisturbed in pot following year valleylynn added sprekelia formosissima is native to mexico. Once your onions bolt their bulbs stop growing and their storage capacity diminishes.

There are various common names for this ornamental onion but none refer to what is clearly its most striking feature. Nematodes cause tops to yellow prematurely and bulbs to deform while thrips show up as white spots on the leaves. This is why it s important to let leaves of bulbs like tulips and daffodils remain and stay green until they naturally die back. The rigid stalk penetrates the bulb and after harvest its early decay causes the entire onion to decay.

All is not lost after an onion flowers. Bending over or cutting off the flower stalk won t re initiate bulb development. Onions are biennial which means they ordinarily produce bulbs in their first year of growth then if left in the garden they flower and bear seed in their second year. Make sure the plants will have enough cool nights to develop bulbs and cloves.

The flower head and seed head look like fireworks exploding. The flower stems. With bulbs planted in your garden this central shoot forms after flowers fade. While its display is dramatic there is one serious drawback to growing this plant.

Timing and patience are most important in getting a good harvest from your garlic. They may look interesting even ornamental but they signal that something went wrong. But also look out for signs of pests that are stunting growth.