Allium cernuum

A patch of nodding wild onion is a fanciful sight in the July garden, with semi-spherical clusters of pink blooms arching forward from slender stalks. The plants’ leaves are long and narrow, providing a nice contrast with neighboring vegetation.

Nodding wild onion is able to grow in dry soils and can thus be found in some challenging environments. Within the historic tallgrass prairie region, nodding wild onion is a plant of sand and gravel hill prairies, growing on south-facing bluffs along with little bluestem, side-oats grama, and drought-tolerant forbs. The plant also has found a home on green roofs, a new technology which aims to cool urban areas and minimize runoff through covering rooftops with live vegetation.

Owing to its short stature, nodding wild onion works well as a garden border plant, and it also is a good choice for container gardening. When planted with grey-headed coneflower, common yarrow, wild bergamot, black-eyed Susan, and purple coneflower, nodding wild onion is part of a knockout midsummer show. The plant is also a pollinator favorite, attracting beetles, hover flies, and a variety of short and long-tongued bees. As an added bonus, nodding wild onion is highly resistant to deer and rabbit herbivory.

Photo by Ashley Keesling.