Allium Nodding Wild Onion Seeds

Allium cernuum. If you spend enough time looking in the dry woods, rocky outcroppings, and prairies across North America, you will eventually discover Nodding Wild Onions growing in scattered clumps. Individual stems arise to a height of 45cm (18") from bulbs in the ground. In early and mid-summer, they bear umbels of white to rose coloured, pendant flowers that nod and wobble in the wind. These are highly attractive to short-tongued bees, but not to grazing deer. Each flower develops into a spherical fruit, which splits at the end of summer to reveal more shiny black seeds. Beneath the soil, the bulbs split and multiply just the way tulips do. These perennial wildflowers are hardy to Zone 2, and while they are technically edible, it's a good idea to wait until a small colony has developed, and then harvest them judiciously as a summertime treat. Grow in full sun to part shade, or in freely draining containers.