Star of Persia

Star of Persia
Allium christophii
(AL-ee-um) (kris-TOF-ee-eye)
Synonym: Allium albopilosum

Yesterday was the Garden Conservancy’s Fairfield County Open Day. I wished I had known about it earlier. It was also Westchester and Litchfield County Open Days. We did get to one garden and it was quite beautiful. It was collector’s garden, which is just perfect for me. There were no restrictions on photography and there was a gorgeous collection of plants. I hadn’t seen this Allium in quite a while and remembered how nice it is.

Alliums are becoming more and more popular. They are a good plant to have around and there are numerous types for the garden. We planted 48 Gladiator Allium last year and, as usual, had a perfect success rate. I will have to order some Allium christophii next fall.

Star of Persia gets to be about 24 inches tall. The flower heads are amethyst pink and often over 8 inches wide. This particular one had a flower head that was 10 to 12 inches wide. There was only one plant/bulb and it really effective poking out from underneath a Weeping Kousa Dogwood. Normally solitary flowers aren’t as attractive as a group but this flower is interesting and big enough to pull it off.

Two other attributes to plant are the ability to grow in poor soil and their deer resistance. They also make long lasting cut flowers.

Since the garden had a lot of beautiful flowers and plants here is an extra picture. This Rhododendron was pretty amazing. Since it was quite windy the taller trees were making changing shadows over the peachy/white flowers. They were glowing when the sun hit them. I noticed it from across the yard.