Happy New Year! I’ve just completed some tardy bulb planting, the very last ones. I was experiencing mild but niggling guilt each time I went into the shed and those unopened packets started at me accusingly. Really, they should have gone into the ground and pots earlier, but they were a December gift, and they will still come up next spring, perhaps just a little later than usual. Now really is your very last chance though if you’ve still got a few spring-flowering bulbs staring at you in your shed, go go go!

Among the last bulbs to go in were some alliums, and these really are worth the muddy workout, because come May you will be thankful! Known as ornamental onions, they are closely related to edible onions, chives and leeks. They add so much to the garden:

• Structural beauty
• Great contrasts in form and colour when mixed with other plants
• Superb for pollinators, bees absolutely love them
• Fabulous dried seedheads which you can leave to adorn the borders, or bring inside the house for arty indoor flower displays
• Low-maintenance gardening: they look after themselves and I’ve never known them to be troubled by pests or diseases. Slugs might nibble at the leaves, but usually leave the flowers alone.

I love combining purple and orange for a vibrant colour scheme. These two colours work well together as they are opposite each other on the colour wheel. Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ looks fabulous emerging from a frothy cloud of vibrant orange Geum. I like Geum ‘Scarlet Tempest’ (really more orange than scarlet), but you could also try Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ (a softer apricot) or Geum ‘Princess Juliana’ (mid-orange).

If you prefer things a touch cooler, try mixing them with shades of blue:

Another superb allium to try is Allium ‘Christophii’, the star of Persia, which has dazzling star-shaped blooms in a perfect large sphere. It’s one of those plants that stops you in your tracks. The dried seed-heads on these make brilliant Christmas decorations or additions to wreaths. I also like it because it returns reliably year after year, even in my tricky heavy clay soil, so this one’s a keeper.

To get the best out of alliums, give them a sunny spot and make sure the drainage is good. If, like me, you’re on clay, add some grit and/or plenty of compost to the planting holes to stop them from sitting in too much wet. Many alliums are quite tall, over 1m, but luckily their stems are pretty strong and they tend to stand proud until flowering is over. The exception is the cute drumstick allium, Allium sphaerocephalum which I find does get a tad floppy, but being small-flowered it somehow adds to its charm as it weaves and bobs in the border.

There are plenty more varieties to experiment with, including the lovely white Allium ‘Mount Everest’ and shorter types that look great at the front of borders or edging paths. Have you given alliums a go?