John Ingram wrote about his experiences with Alliums. In reference to Allium aflatunense, most likely your plants are A. hollandicum... a name given to the plant that has been cultivated for a very long time under the name "aflatunense". The true plant A. aflatunense is very different that the plant in cultivation, and has only recently become available. "They have never reseeded that I am aware." When doing summer clean-up, I pluck out the dried flower stalks, and dump them, along with weeds and other garden refuse, into the rough borders of the yard. Much to my surprise, the seed germinates and grow into flowering plants, growing and competing in 3' tall grass and weeds! Of particular surprise, was a growing colony of Allium cristophii (note spelling, it's "cr" not "chr") that seeded in where I was dumping the spent stalks. I had dozens of flowering bulbs, growing in full shade no less! Last fall I dug up all of these bonus bulbs and planted them out into regular garden beds. It should be noted that the self-sown A. cristophii seedlings, while growing in shade, were in heavy clay, in a raised area that becomes bone dry during the summer. The bulbs were very close to the surface. "I do have a plant that came only labeled as curly allium." There's lots of so-called curly onions. Jane is correct in suggesting the name most often refers to Allium senescens ssp. glaucum. However the nomenclature of this whole group has been recently revised. It seems that "ssp. glaucum" is absorbed under regular A. senescens (per Dr. Friesen), however A. senescens in the European sense has been redefined to include only the Asian representatives of the genus, with the European representatives (ssp. montanum) restored to an earlier name A. lusitanicum. According to Dr. Friesen, these is indeed Allium spirale, an old resurrected name for the curly-leaf entity. Most plants grown in cultivation under the name A. senescens ssp. glaucum are derived from garden hybrids and are extremely variable, thus the name has little meaning. By the way, check out the PBS wiki Allium Chives subpage for other curly onions, and the Rhizomatous Onions for other possibilities. Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States antennaria@aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5 ============================================== >> web site under construction - http://www.plantbuzz.com/ << alliums, bulbs, penstemons, hardy hibiscus, western american alpines, iris, plants of all types!