I'm not sure how long it has been around but I am guessing 10 to 15 years.

Plant Delights/Juniper Level Botanic Garden traces 'Millenium' back to at least 1998, with it being introduced to the "market" in 2000:

https://blog.jlbg.org/allium-milleniunm-perennial-plant-of-the-year/

I saw Lavender Bubbles and Millenium next to each other on the bench this past season -- I chose Millenium because I liked the color a little bit better, but they're very similar. I have a grouping of small allium I've had for quite a few years but dang I can't remember what they are -- Blue Eddy, maybe. IDK but whatever they are I really like them. Those usually bloom sometime in August.

but whatever they are I really like them. Those usually bloom sometime in August.

Later blooming and short stature with lots of flowers loved by bees....for us, a must have perennial in our garden.

In spring 2023 I added Millenium and Lavender Bubbles (choose two varieties to get a longer bloom period?) to the library garden. Then we had a drought (-12 inches for the year) but the alliums bloomed anyway. The foliage is a neat textural element and the August bloom bridges that gap between summer and fall.

I haven't heard of any of them, apart from Millenium. I dunno how you stay abreast of all these cultivars, Rouge. Do you find much difference between these varieties? Apart from roses (to a point) I have not really investigated the world of plant breeding. I have never been that keen on trading bloom longevity for sterility although I do have specific plants such as polemonium 'Lambrooke Mauve' which blooms for a coupla months (sterile) unlike the usual fleeting 3 weeks. I am a greedy and demanding gardener but don't have the collector gene to any excess as I fear I would be experiencing a considerable amount of frustration because there are just too many varieties of almost everything

I dunno how you stay abreast of all these cultivars, Rouge.

I usually dont but I do enjoy these particular allium varieties.

Do you find much difference between these varieties?

Enough that I have enjoyed having a few of these others.

because there are just too many varieties of almost everything

Never were truer words ever spoken in a gardening context. Given my latest interest over the last few years, your observation is so true for all things hydrangea....craziness I say.

They bloom in August? (sigh) . Sometimes I am rightly peeved at the internet. I ordered 75 bulbs which were a mix of Purple Sensation, drumstick, Mt Everest, and Gladiator and planted them last fall. I tried to get a clear idea of their bloom time, but it varies only from early spring to late spring, maybe early summer. Is Millenium the only variety that blooms that late?

(I'm replacing the word "hate" with "rightly peeved." Now I sound dapper instead of angst-y.)

The bulbous alliums are different from the herbaceous alliums. The bulbous types bloom in spring-late spring-early summer. They are not reliably perennial; in fact, some of them may not re-bloom at all, i.e. they're "annual" bulbs that need to replanted yearly.

This thread is talking about the herbacous alliums.

Hey @deanna in ME Barely zone 6a, more like 5b, Purple Sensation are for sure perennial in behaviour (in fact it is this variety that 'easily' naturalizes and spreads....often too successfully). It is my experience that Mt. Everest (one of my faves) will very likely to return for you. Gladiator can appear in subsequent years but it will start to diminish in size. So the key is too plants lots :).

Is Millenium the only variety that blooms that late?

It and the 7 others I listed above reach their peak in about mid August (for me).

(It you want way late you could consider Allium ‘Ozawa’ as barring a very hard frost it can be in bloom well into October. But it isnt as impressive as the others I have listed here.)

Well, I thought all alliums were perennails. Hoping I get some good returns like rouge mentioned. I especially love Drumstick so I hope it returns. Thanks for the heads-up.

You can still enjoy them :0)

Apart from Millenium I do not have the others you listed rouge. For years I have grown A. senescens and adore it. Although looking at web pics I wonder if it is not a named variety of since it has lovely full lavender heads. I have had it so many years that I need to divide it now.

I believe Millenium was very well marketed much the way as Daylily Stella D'Oro' (in the case of Stella a bit of over hype).

Deanna I agree Allium sphaerocephalon - Drumstick is terrific and it will return for years.

For years I have grown A. senescens and adore it

Definitely an allium classic 'peren' :).

Drumstick is terrific and it will return for years.

Good to hear and yet for me, I have had difficulty having it return reliably. It is an interesting looking allium for sure.

All alliums are herbaceous. But only some are rhizomatous rather than true bulbs. They have a fascinating (and complex) taxonomy.

Interesting that the Drumstick is not reliable for you rouge since everything you grow seems to do exceptionally well. We all seem to struggle with certain plants for whatever reason.

Allium tuberosum - Garlic chives is a favorite of mine & pollinators. I get to enjoy using the leaves in countless dishes from spring on then late season the pollinators flock to the flowers giving much viewing pleasure.

Nice of you to say 'peren' but I have tons of less than stellar results!

Alliums are a staple in my yard and do great; both the spring bloomers and summer/fall bloomers. They must like by crummy, sandy soil. Some a little too much. If they have a downside some varieties seed a lot, but they are easy to hoe as seedlings.

Rouge wrote;

"(It you want way late you could consider Allium ‘Ozawa’ as barring a very hard frost it can be in bloom well into October. But it isnt as impressive as the others I have listed here.) "

and you also wrote:

"Nice of you to say 'peren' but I have tons of less than stellar results! "

I think that your Allium thunbergii 'Ozawa' is probably a plant that produced "less than stellar results" in your garden, because in my garden they are absolutely stunning, the color is much more vibrant and intense than any of rhizomatous types! I also grow thunbergii 'alba' which is pretty snazzy too. 'Ozawa' is a bulbous type of allium. The rhizomatous allium all look very similar and washed out to me. Just because you have had less than "stellar results" with a plant in your garden doesn't mean it does poorly for every one else! I would HIGHLY recommend 'Ozawa' for late fall color - and to feed the honey bees at the end of the year.

Just because you have had less than "stellar results" with a plant in your garden doesn't mean it does poorly for every one else!

Of course not! When did I ever say or insinuate that?? Totally opposite in fact in that

I enjoy hearing of the success of houzzers re plants that I have difficulty keeping healthy ie alive. I learn lots.

(Sometimes I think you say things simply for the "shock effect" (sound familiar?))

The only variety I have is Millenium, and it’s not performing well in my clay soil. I tried it in full sun and part shade and was underwhelmed in both cases.

I saw it in pots last year at a local nursery, and was amazed at how much larger the blooms were compared to the ones in my garden.

I will probably remove them in 2024 to make space for something that makes me happier!

I have sort-of clay soil in my yard (meaning that, from what I have seen elsewhere, it could be much worse). When I moved here, I was startled to see a white allium come up and bloom during the middle of summer. My limited experience with alliums before that was with the Spring bloomers. The Millenium came back nicely this year--I'll see how it goes--hopefully, they will not rot over time. I added some Lavender Bubbles last season, too. I just love alliums!

Are these ornamental alliums edible?

Well I think I learned something. Please tell me if I got it right. The bulb alliums. like drumstck or the giants, produce one flower per bulb and generally bloom in speibg. The rhizomatous types, like Milleniium, are clumps that produce a mass of flowers, generally later in the season.

This would explain why Ive been disappointed with drumsticks. I kept expecting to see a mass of blooms like the photographs, which never show more than a few inches of stems. Tbey must be planting ten bulbs in a hole vs my scatter shot. Am I right?

^^ I think you are right.

“Please tell me if I got it right. The bulb alliums. like drumstck or the giants, produce one flower per bulb and generally bloom in speibg. ”

That’s what I learned from this thread, too. This fall I planted bulb alliums that will (hopefully) bloom in speibg. The perennial type must bloom in fawkjl.

:-D

UPDATE: (August 2024)

I have a border of these August blooming alliums...all but one are Millenium and the only reason I know it isnt is because all my "M" have basically finished blooming where this NOID is taller and less compact then the "M" AND more importantly it is still blooming. This "one off" has to be one of...

• Lavender Bubbles

• Bubble Bath

• Peek-A-Boo

• Serendipity

• Bobblehead

I was dumb to not keep track of this one allium...I'd love to know which it is.