Question
QUESTION: Do alliums really discourage voles?  And what about deer? If so, can you recommend some alliums both for shade and sun, with advice on how far apart to plant them?

Thank You

ANSWER: Hello Elaine,

In my experience alliums, of which I have many, do not repel voles.

But daffodils do!

I had the experience of losing dozens of lilies and tulips to voles. Then I realized that, in nature, creatures avoid daffodils, because they are poisonous. So I started scattering daffodils amongst my lilies and tulips. Not a lot, because they can smell them, and stay away. I now go through winter without the loss of a single bulb.

The only problem with daffodils is the big strapping foliage they leave. The solution to that? Miniature daffodils. I strongly recommend W.P. Milner, a miniature Division 1 (Trumpet) that is very inexpensive. You can get it from Brent and Becky's bulbs NOW. I have a new garden, and I am adding a few more of these delightful little daffodils. They have very small foliage, and it fades quickly.

Ah, alliums. I grow several.

I love allium christophii. I've been growing them for at least 12 years. The color is amethyst. Goes with everything! Roses, peonies grasses perennials. And after they dry they last for months. At about $1 each, they seem expensive, but they start multiplying rapidly in a couple of years. I have dug up at least 30 to share with friends, and please note that they are very easy to dig up, even in bud or bloom.

They are full sun, generally, but I have found My biggest christophiis ones that seeded into shade and produced enormous flowers. No pests are interested in them. Some of them get absolutely enormous. In my zone 5a/b, allium christophii starts blooming in late May, but new ones keep opening for weeks, sometimes until the end of June.

On the other end of the size is allium oreophyllum. They are small charmers, and incredibly cheap. They too go with everything, and after about three years, start seeding, but are easy to move, and oh, so delightful. A pink with a mild purple cast. Allium oreophyllum blooms in late May for me.

Allium caeruleum opens in mid-June. The color is a gorgeous blue, as the name suggests, but it is somewhat insubstantial. And it truly needs full sun. You need a lot to make an impact, but it is very inexpensive. As you can see, it overlaps allium christophii, but christophii lasts much longer in bloom and the seedheads last for months.

Drumstick allium (sphaerocephalon) starts blooming in mid-July here. It blooms for weeks because all of them don't bloom at once. And if you dig them up you will see that they reproduce like mad. They are very inexpensive.

The ones that did not work for me were triquetrum (I fell in love with it in San Francisco, and it likes damp shade, but that's OK - it's invasive there) and allium roseum, which faded away after the first season and never returned.

Is this helpful? Please feel free to write back with any questions.

And happy gardening.

Donna





---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the very helpful info.  Will the deer stay away from the daffodils and also other plants close by?

Answer
Hello again,

Daffodils are famous for repelling deer. People who have terrible problems with deer can grow them. They are very smart, and daffodils are poisonous to them.

This is what I did. For my most precious plants, I would put the daffodils in a triangle around them. That way the voles and rabbits has to pass "the poisonous perimeter". I do not believe that the deer would cross that line to get to your plants.

It worked very well for me with the twin terrors of voles and rabbits. It should work with deer too.

Donna