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Allium Roseum Flower (Rosy Garlic)

Allium Roseum Flower, commonly called rosy garlic plant from the amaryllidaceae family. This rarely aquatic plant, selected with the name of tears of the virgin or wild garlic, is characterized by its floriferous and triangular stem between 10-45 cm high.

It also has roots and three sharp edges that are accompanied in addition to a strong and peculiar garlic smell, which is why it is also called garlic. 

With white petals, medium-wide veins and green in color, this species belongs to the liliopid class and the lilidae subclass, and forms more than a thousand species of bulbous plants, most of them from the Northern Hemisphere.

Origin

Allium Roseum Flower they are native to the Western Mediterranean, the Canary Islands, Madeira, Northwest Africa and have been naturalized by European countries.

They also come from Australia, North America, New Zealand, South of Great Britain and Argentina, in the latter they grow wild and bloom from mid-winter to early spring, showing small white, straight, bell-shaped and hanging flowers.

Characteristics

Its generic name is Allium and it was already known by the Greeks and the Romans, although its real origin is Celtic and its meaning is “burning”, referring to the strong and peculiar acrid smell that it gives off. From the systematic point of view they belong to the eukaryotic domain, that is, they are cells with a high degree of organization.

More important than we imagine, this aromatic and delicate-looking plant is also edible.

From its elongated and whitish bulbs grow long ribbon-shaped leaves and their pretty flowers, which appear in early spring in groups of three or more (inclined umbel-like inflorescence) and are dome-shaped. Its natural habitat is the forests, grasslands and the humid and shady Mediterranean lands near the streams.

The bulbs are usually planted in the fall at a depth calculated to be twice their size and very close to each other; It is also customary to grow them in planters and pots.

The Allium Roseum Flower is very good in shady or semi-shady places, they are cool weather and resist temperatures as low as -12 °.

They thrive in soils with relative humidity and good drainage and whose acidic, neutral or alkaline PH is ideal. Substrate are not required for this type of plant and they resist short dry periods without problems, what they do not tolerate is waterlogging.

In addition to being cultivated, the Allium Roseum Flower uses antophiles and insects to pollinate its white flowers.

The fruit of this plant is a capsule approximately 6 mm long and whose contents are black seeds, both the bulb and the leaves being edible; once dried, the fruit is used in crafts.

If you choose to have this perennial bulbous plant in gardens, it is advisable to keep it under control because it expands and becomes invasive by forming dense colonies, and by multiplying with the small bulbs that in turn originate from the mother bulb. 

Various antibacterial properties are attributed to this singular plant, it is also used in cases of regularization of arterial hypertension, since wild garlic, as it is also known, eliminates toxins from our body.

This variety, also called pyramidal garlic, is considered very resistant to pests and diseases.

Allium Roseum Flower triquetrum bulbs are used in cooking recipes just as we do with commercial garlic that we know and use for our daily use. By chopping them very fine and mixing them with butter, a garlic butter very similar to the original is obtained, thus preparing the garlic bread.

They are a good substitute for garlic as such and it is also often mixed with ginger and as a dressing for any dish, especially for those made with mushrooms and mushrooms.

In the ornamental area, they are also used to cover slopes, alpine gardens, shady rockeries or undergrowth, since they usually form large massifs.

How to care for the Allium Roseum Flower

They can be used on edges, as coverings on slopes, alpine gardens and shaded rockeries or in the undergrowth. It is also possible to grow them in pots and planters.

The Tears of the Virgin live well in shady or semi-shaded exposures (in full sun if the summer is not very hot) and in rather cool climates. Frost resistant to -12 ºC.

They are able to thrive in any type of soil that retains a little moisture (organic matter) but drains well. The sowing of the bulbs is carried out in autumn at a depth of twice its size and at a rate of about 30-40 specimens per m2.

Irrigation will be frequent so that the soil always has a certain degree of humidity but without overwatering, although it resists well a few days of drought. 

Substrate is usually not required

They do not need pruning but dry leaves can be removed in winter.

It tends to expand so we must monitor its growth.

These resistant plants do not usually present serious pest and disease problems.

They multiply by dividing bulbs or from seeds.