Know your Field Garlic
Know your Field Garlic - Introduction
Field garlic (Allium oleraceum) is a bulbous perennial that grows wild in dry places in northern Europe, reaching 80cm in height.
It reproduces by seed, bulbs and by the production of small bulblets in the flower head (similarly to the Wild OnionAllium vineale).
Unlike A. vineale however, it is very rare with Field garlic to find flower-heads containing bulbils only.
In addition, the spathe in Field garlic is in two parts.
Know your Field Garlic - Botany
Growing form: Perennial herb.
Height: 25–75 cm (10–30 in.). Stem oval, upper half leafless.
Flower: Long-stalked, often pendent, regular, bell-shaped, 4–5 mm wide. Tepals six, free, pale violet to brownish. Stamens six. Pistil of three fused carpels, ovary trilocular. Inflorescence a lax umbel with dark bulbils present between flowers. Umbel enclosed in bud within two long-beaked membranous bracts.
Leaves: Long and narrow (width 3–5 mm, 0.1–0.2 in.), almost thread-like, channelled. Base of leaf sheathing, stem-enclosing. Leaves wither soon.
Fruit: A capsule. Seeds though rarely produced.
Habitat: Rock outcrops, grassy hillsides, coppices.
Flowering time: July–August.
The umbel of the field garlic consists not only of a few long-stalked flowers but also of unstalked bulbils. They detach themselves, fall to the ground, and develop into new individuals. Seeds are rarely produced.
Know your Field Garlic - Distribution
Field garlic is native to temperate Eurasia.
It is native to Britain and is found in dry, grassy places, usually steeply sloping and calcareous soils, and on open sunny banks in river floodplains.
It favours altitudes of 0-365m.
A. oleraceum is scattered throughout England and very scattered in Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
Erosion of coastal areas leads to a reduction in the available habitat for this species, leading to population declines.
Know your Field Garlic - Position and Soil
This plant prefers partial or full exposure to sunlight.
Field Garlic tends to grow in slightly moist, heavy clay-like soil, although it will grow just fine in other soils.
This plant spreads quickly, much like a weed, and can be difficult to get rid of.
Know your Field Garlic - Cultivation
An easily grown plant, it prefers a sunny position in a light well-drained soil.
The bulbs should be planted fairly deeply.
Seed is rarely if ever produced in Britain.
The plant usually produces many small bulbils in the flowering head and these can spread themselves freely around the garden.
Grows well with most plants, especially roses, carrots, beet and chamomile, but it inhibits the growth of legumes.
This plant is a bad companion for alfalfa, each species negatively affecting the other.
Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer.