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Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

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May Dreams Gardens

My Old Neighbors

July 24, 2020 By Carol Michel 6 Comments

This Allium ‘Millenium’ will always remind me of our next-door neighbors when I was a kid.  Not because they grew this particular variety of Allium—it was introduced in 1990, long after I’d left home—but because their son called me up one day and asked if I wanted a few clumps of it.

He had planted it in a container at his mom’s retirement apartment, and when he switched over the planting from summer to fall, as one does, he decided the ornamental allium might be nice for someone to plant out in a garden.

Enter me, who has a garden.

He gave me two big clumps of these alliums. I soaked them a bit, split them into separate bulbs, and planted the bulbs out along the edge of several flower beds.

They took off!

Now when I see these alliums in flower all over my garden, as a border edging, I think of our good neighbors who lived next door to my family for over 40 years.

Good neighbors.

And a good allium. Allium ‘Millenium’ gets about a foot tall, forms a clump, and is not a big self-sower, though most sellers advise cutting off seed heads in the fall because some seeds will form. (Yes, that is the correct spelling of the variety name ‘Millenium’.)

Oh, and it was good enough to be named the 2018 Perennial Plant of the Year by the Perennial Plant Association.

This spring, I shared some bulbs with two of my sisters and told them of its origins. Now they can think of our good neighbors when these bloom in their gardens. And when a flower can bring back good memories of good people, and also look pretty, that’s a reason to have it in your garden.

I think I’ll make sure my other sister gets some later this fall for her garden.

******
In other news, the offerings from The Vegetable Garden Cathedral are starting to increase. On Wednesday, after a good soaking rain the night before, I picked green beans, squash, and the first ripe tomatoes. 

Add to that the previous offerings of cucumbers, peppers, more green beans, and cabbage and I’d echo what I heard one of my aunts once say, “We eat so good when we eat out of the garden.”

I like that thought and think of it with every mouthful of food from my own garden!

*******
If you like my posts and were relying on a tweet or Facebook post to alert you that I posted something new, you maybe should hit that little subscribe button in the upper left-hand corner of the main page so you’ll get an email when I post. I’ve decided to take a break from social media for a while and won’t be sharing links via those channels.  
Of course, as you can see, I’ll still be writing blog posts and I’ll still be recording podcast episodes of The Gardenangelists.  Plus, occasionally I’ll launch a new YouTube video which I’ll try to remember to tell you about.  
Plus sometime real soon, I’m going to launch my email newsletter! To sign up for it, visit my author website, hang around for a few seconds, and a little box should pop up in the lower right corner inviting you to subscribe to it.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: perennials, vegetable gardening

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Covegirl says

    July 24, 2020 at 2:01 pm

    I have Allium moly on the edge of one of my beds. I love the yellow color!

    Reply
    • Carol Michel says

      July 24, 2020 at 10:05 pm

      Yes, that is also a good allium. I don't have it but my neighbor does and every spring she asks me what it is.

      Reply
  2. CanadianGardenJoy says

    July 24, 2020 at 10:27 pm

    Hello Carol and yes ! it is wonderful to have a reminder of good neighbors like that.
    I have Purple Sensation allium along the tall fencing of my back garden and I love them even as they whither with age. I keep them for as long as possible because they are so interesting to look at .. I can't imagine my garden without them now.

    Reply
    • Carol Michel says

      July 25, 2020 at 2:05 pm

      I think I have Purple Sensation in a front garden bed. Also a good allium!

      Reply
  3. Lisa at Greenbow says

    July 24, 2020 at 11:02 pm

    Alliums are such a friendly plant. The cheerful balls of color always lifts spirits. It is nice to have flowers that bring back such lovely memories.

    Reply
  4. udsigtshaven.dk says

    July 25, 2020 at 7:34 am

    Thank you for Sharin this. I didn`t know that there were alliums that flower this time of year. I only have springflowering ones.

    Reply

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