Garden Plant: Nodding Onion
Nodding Onion
Product Description: Nodding Onion
Elegant, Nodding Flowers on an Edible Native
This onion is gorgeous and great for naturalizing in a water-wise garden. The Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum) is an edible ornamental North American native.
The Nodding Onion is a perennial bulb that produces a sweet and celebratory cluster of flowers. This simple beauty bursts with light pink and purple flowers in the summertime. These delicate flowers tower above the ground and cluster in an umbel-shaped display around the end of their stem.
Butterflies and honeybees enjoy stopping by these pendant flowers. Hummingbirds are also drawn to the nectar.
Gardens rely on many details to deliver the whole experience. With this wind-loving plant, both the long, grassy leaves and the pendulous flower heads weave and bob in the breeze. Adding motion brings a dynamic quality to your landscape.
The Nodding Onion is robust and makes a great solution for some areas that can be hard to grow other plants. This is a wonderful plant for the front of a mixed border. This naturalizing plant is also excellent for adding soft subtle color to your Prairie Garden.
Native Americans used the Nodding Onion historically to add flavor to their meals. You can eat it cooked or raw. And its bold flavor is the perfect addition to a salad to a roasted vegetable dish. Dig the bulb, chop, blanch two minutes and freeze in bags to use as a very special ingredient at your Thanksgiving dinner table. A little goes a long way!
This plant thrives and flowers once fully established. Under some circumstances, it may even flourish a little “too well” in some locations. We use Plant Sentry, so we can easily abide by all local, state and federal regulations for plants that can become invasive in certain areas.
If you can grow this perennial in your area, count your lucky stars! What a beauty.
Great in Butterfly and Pollinator, Herb and Kitchen Gardens.
- Beautiful Light Lavender Blooms
- Edible Native Plant
- Attracts Hummingbirds, Bees, and Butterflies