Plant & Tree Library

Other Names:  Flowering Onion

Brand:  Walters Gardens

Description:

A showy ornamental onion forming an upright clump of blue-green, strappy leaves; a profusion of lilac-purple rounded clusters of flowers in mid-summer; impressive when massed in groupings; great as a long lasting cut flower

Ornamental Features

Serendipity Ornamental Onion features bold balls of lightly-scented lilac purple flowers with purple overtones at the ends of the stems from mid to late summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its attractive sword-like leaves remain bluish-green in color with hints of powder blue throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Serendipity Ornamental Onion is an open herbaceous perennial with tall flower stalks held atop a low mound of foliage. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other garden plants with finer foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Serendipity Ornamental Onion is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Serendipity Ornamental Onion will grow to be about 15 inches tall at maturity extending to 20 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 15 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 10 inches apart. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 5 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen! As this plant tends to go dormant in summer, it is best interplanted with late-season bloomers to hide the dying foliage.

This plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by multiplication of the underground bulbs; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Serendipity Ornamental Onion is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.