Alliums are in the same family as garlic, onions, chives, and shallots. This makes gardeners wonder if they should include them in their ornamental gardening plans, as it conjures up images of supermarket produce. But because good garden designs are often made up of different shapes, Alliums rounded blooms make for high drama and interest in the garden. The Allium group gets more popular annually, from over 300 species to choose. They amaze everyone, and few plants create this kind of wow in the garden. We will be adding many new varieties shortly. Allium schubertii, is a bulbous perennial that is ornamentally grown for its impressive display of rose-purple flowers that bloom in giant, spherical umbels. This plant is native from the eastern Mediterranean to central Asia. Strap-shaped, blue-green, basal leaves form a clump of foliage in spring surrounding a stout scape. Leaves begin to wither as the flowers begin to bloom. Each flowerhead contains as many as 50 small, rose-purple, star-like flowers which bloom at the ends of pedicels of varying lengths (fertile ones to 4 in. L and sterile ones to 8 in. L). Seed heads dry after bloom, and can be left on the plant for ornamental reasons or picked for flower arrangements. Dried seed heads that fall off the plant will tumble along the ground with the wind spreading seed as they go, hence the common name of tumbleweed onion.