2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Bowed onion (lat. Allium cernuum) - a representative of the Onion genus of the Onion family. An excellent ornamental plant used in gardening and cooking. It is used to decorate rockeries, rock gardens and other rocky gardens. Native to the prairies and forests of North America.
Characteristics of culture
Bent onion is a perennial plant with an elongated conical bulb up to 15 mm in diameter. The leaves are green, flat, linear, up to 30-35 cm long, with a pronounced parallel venation, collected in a basal, rather voluminous, fan-shaped rosette. The flowers are white or pink, collected in umbellate drooping inflorescences. Anthers yellow, longer than corolla. Peduncles up to 50 cm long. Seeds are dark brown or black, small.
Onions bloom in July-August; in regions with hot climates, flowering begins in June. In central Russia, inclined onions form a small number of seeds, forming barren flowers. The bulb and leaves of the culture have a characteristic odor, only young leaves are used for food, they are used to prepare various salads and other dishes along with parsley and dill.
The subtleties of growing
Like most representatives of the genus Onion, the plant is photophilous. The intensity of the color of leaves and inflorescences depends on the level of illumination. Soils are desirable well-drained, breathable, loose, fertile, moderately moist. Acidity is preferable 6, 8-7, 0. Strongly acidic soils must be limed beforehand.
Before planting onions, it is important to thoroughly prepare the site, which includes removing last year's plant residues, digging up the soil and adding rotted compost and mineral fertilizers. Feeding with microelements is also not prohibited, it has a positive effect on the further development of culture.
Propagate onions inclined by seeds, bulbs or children. Despite the fact that the seeds of the culture are very small, they have a high germination capacity. When growing onions from seeds, plants bloom in the third year, less often in the second. In one place, a bent onion can develop normally up to 5 years, further division and transplantation is required.
You can grow onions together with other decorative onions, annual and perennial flower crops. Bowed onions are combined with vegetables and herbs. In addition to decorative properties, the onion has the functions of a protector, with its smell it repels insect pests.
Sowing and planting bowed onions should be in early spring, autumn planting is also acceptable. The first feeding is carried out at the time of planting or in the spring after the snow melts, then in the phase of bud formation and bulb formation. At the end of summer, you can carry out the final top dressing, it will facilitate future wintering.
In addition to fertilizing, bowed onions need rare and moderate watering, weeding and loosening of the aisles. After planting, it is recommended to mulch the soil around the plants with pebbles, film or gravel. It is undesirable to use organic material, as it is susceptible to attack by slugs, worms and other unpleasant guests. In addition, organic mulch acidifies the soil, which is contraindicated for this onion.
Application
As mentioned above, bowed onions are widely used in cooking. However, the plant is most often found as an ornamental crop. Its bright, mesmerizing and spectacular inflorescences fit perfectly into any gardens and flower beds. The plant looks especially harmonious in rocky gardens, as well as in ridges, flower beds and mixborders.
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