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Pincushion Ornamental Onion - Bare Root Plant

$15.40
$15.40 $27.52
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Size : Bare Root Plant
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Bare root arrives dormant

Expect new growth in about 6 weeks after planting. Until then it can look lifeless, so you won’t be able to tell within 24 hours of arrival whether it will grow.

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About the Product

Pincushion is a small-scale ornamental onion that produces a large number of soft purple flower clusters over a tidy tuft of narrow blue-green leaves. Blooms last for many weeks and leave behind attractive seed heads.

At only 14 to 16 inches tall, it is ideal tucked along the front of a border, in rock gardens or in containers. It is not known to reseed, and it is carefree, drought tolerant and avoided by deer and rabbits. Butterflies and bees are regular visitors.

What it looks like

Numerous rounded flower clusters about 1.5 inches across of tiny starry florets in soft lilac purple, held on slender, straight stems just above the leaves. Leaves are narrow, straight, glaucous blue-green blades forming a tidy, upright tuft. The plant is 14 to 16 inches tall and 12 to 14 inches wide. At peak bloom it is densely studded with many small purple balls, like pins in a cushion.

Growing it with lavender

Pincushion grows in the same sunny, lean, well-drained soil as lavender, and its small purple globes and blue-green leaves make a neat, color-matched edging for a lavender planting.

Care

Grow in full sun to part shade in lean to average, well-drained soil; it handles drought once established. Hardy in USDA zones 4-8. Trim off any tired foliage in fall or early spring; clumps can be divided in spring every few years.

At a glance

  • Botanical name: Allium
  • Flower color: Soft lilac purple
  • Foliage: Glaucous blue-green
  • Growth habit: Small, tidy, upright tuft
  • Mature size: 14–16 in tall × 12–14 in wide
  • USDA hardiness zones: 4–8
  • Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
  • Bloom start: Late-July
  • Peak bloom: Mid-August
  • Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
  • Deer resistance: Resistant
  • Pollinator value: Excellent

Sizes and shipping

Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.

View Product Details
Mature height
16.0 in
Mature spread
14.0 in
Bloom
Late-July – peak Mid-August
Fragrance
Mild
Deer
Resistant

Lavender companion · grow guide

How to grow Pincushion

Ornamental Onion · Allium

Give these clump-forming summer alliums full sun and well-drained soil. Once settled they shrug off drought, heat, deer and rabbits and bloom in mid to late summer.

Check my zone & planting dates
Pincushion
  • Full sunLight
  • Low waterFast drainage
  • pH 6.0–7.5Soil
  • Zones 4a–8bHardiness
  • 16″ tall14″ wide
  • ResistantDeer · rabbits resistant
  • Toxic to petsPets
Huckleberry, the farm dog

Huckleberry saysTell me where you grow and I’ll check if Pincushion will thrive there.

Hardy in zones 4a–8b

Spring or early fall, at least 6 weeks before the ground freezes.

Dormant bare-root clumping ornamental onion (allium) as it arrives, laid on burlap

When it arrives

Your bare-root plant

You'll get a cluster of small, slender bulbs joined at the base, with stringy roots and maybe cut-back leaves. Soak roots 30 minutes, then plant right away, bulbs just below the surface. Keep cool and slightly moist if you must wait a few days.

Expect new growth in about 6 weeks after planting. Bare root ships March–May while dormant, with little or no top growth, and it can look lifeless until then. That’s normal. Grassy green tufts come up in mid-spring (April in Michigan). Flower stems follow in early summer and bloom July to September depending on variety. Foliage that yellows a bit in late fall is normal.

You won’t be able to tell within 24 hours of arrival whether a dormant plant will grow.

When to plant

Spring or early fall, at least 6 weeks before the ground freezes.

How deep

Set the clump so the tops of the small bulbs sit just below the soil surface and the leaf bases are at soil level. Spread the roots downward; don't bury the foliage.

Spacing

12–18 inches apart for most; larger types up to 24 inches.

Soil

Sandy, loam or gravelly; clay if amended · pH 6.0–7.5

Fix-it tip: Wet soil rots the bulbs. In clay, work in compost and plant on a slight mound or in a raised bed so water never sits around the clump.

Sun

Full sun (tolerates light part shade).

Less than 6 hours of sun gives floppier foliage and fewer, smaller flower globes.

Dormant
New growth

Don’t give up on it

Is it alive? What spring looks like

Grassy green tufts come up in mid-spring (April in Michigan). Flower stems follow in early summer and bloom July to September depending on variety. Foliage that yellows a bit in late fall is normal.

Care details are written for the whole ornamental onion group; a few are our best general guidance rather than cultivar-specific testing.

Sources

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