Allium unifolium, Single-leaf Onion, Blush Onion

Allium unifolium, Single-leaf Onion, Blush Onion

We are so happy to be able to offer this beautiful native bulb again. Pink to lavender umbels (flowers with a number of short stalks arising from a central point) and so pretty, blooming from May-June. Supplemental water may prolong bloom time. it grows from twelve to eighteen inches tall with grasslike blue-green leaves. Wide-ranging and easy to grow, it is found growing from Baja to Oregon. It thrives in clay and serpentine soils, and can also do well in a variety of garden soils. 

It is one of our favorite container plants, and one of the most versatile of the native onions, as well as among the showiest. A pleasing combination is single-leaf onion grown with Triteleia laxa, Ithuriel’s Spear, nearby.

Single-leaf onion has a slight but pleasing fragrance. 

It can handle full sun to light shade. Summer-dry conditions are preferred, so stop most watering after it blooms. Like many of the native onions, single-leaf onion is thought to be deer-resistant. We have not yet tested the gopher-resistance that is also claimed for it, and other wild onions. It will readily produce babies in the form of corms that can be easily replanted.  

It should probably never be harvested from the wild. Grow your own!