Allium 'Lucy Ball'

 Allium 'Lucy Ball'  is one of many hybrid Alliums developed by Jan Bijl in Holland
(the magnificent 'Globemaster' perhaps his most fantastic hybrid).  This fine hybrid
is named for the actress Lucille Ball.  It's a hybrid between Allium elatum and
A. aflatunense.  By far superior to the ever popular A. giganteum, this hybrid has 
magnificent twinkling globes 5"-6" across (12-15 cm) on 4' (120 cm) stems.
Bulbs have a tendency to die out unless lifted every other year, the divisions
separated and planted out to maintain vigor. My plants eventually died out from
neglect, but bulbs are freely available wherever large selection of Holland bulbs
 are sold in the autumn.

Below is a fat bud-cluster, just breaking out of the spathe segments,
revealing many hundreds of tightly packed buds.

Photo by Mark McDonough
(photos taken approximately 1994)

[ back to the Allium 'melanocrommyum' gallery ]