Alliums, at around 60cm high, have a very large open flower which makes it one of the most popular of all garden alliums. It's flowers have a metallic quality which makes them look stunning in the evening when the warmer light seems to bring them even more to life. Many of the Dutch irises make good companions offering a contrast in shape of flower and often in color.

Meanwhile all the early roses, whether pink, purple, white or yellow, make super partners as well. A shrub, at 40cm, is slightly shorter but its flower heads are even wider. Two circles of flowers appear creating an inner and outer ring which creates the effect of a firework in mid explosion. They can reach 30 to 45cm across in a sunny warm spot. Their leaves are early to grow. Both these alliums are a little later to flower than the taller drumsticks mentioned opposite, and so they help to bridge the gap between late spring and early summer.

Their untidy leaves are less noticeable for they will flower with poppies, herbaceous geraniums and Hesperus, whose foliage by then is well grown, providing a valuable foil for the long strap leaves. All these allium's flowers are notable additions to the garden, and their seed heads will last for many weeks to be enjoyed either in the garden or in the house in a dried flower arrangement.

Where they have a multiplied, either by natural massing of the bulb below ground or by self seeding, the seed heads will create a noteworthy mass display. Few other bulbs can claim such a long period of interest.