I have three small beds for my garden and flowers, and was wonder about the lime, like everyone else I've tried every brand of weed killer that says they kill wild onions, and they all lied, including the barrier mat, the little beggars shot straight through, no way to pull the bulb through the barrier. If there's a possibility lime can rid my gardens of wild onions, great! My problem with lime was that I always thought that was one of the ways you added acid to the garden, guess I was wrong, I never had to. Can someone explain? I have planted catnip every year for my cats, last year the bed was full of wild onions. If I pulled onions I also pulled catnip plants. The cats would not touch the catnip, and the wild onions were the only thing that was different, and this year, It has defied everything I've tried. I thought I had got rid of them and planted the catnip seeds, only to have the wild onions sprout back stronger, the seed is still about a week away from growth, I'm wondering if I can try spraying again? I read a article earlier that was suppose to be a pro Gardener talking, that said Otho extra, weed be gone, for crab grass, he says it will cut the waxy surface of the wild onion leaf and kill the bulbs Does lime have to be mixed into the soil or is it absorbed by watering? For those that say wild onions don't hurt the rest of the plants, they do absorb water needed for growing plants. This year our water levels are already low, if it comes down to a watering ban, it could be a major difference to your plants. Thanks ahead of time!

Feral would be non-native in this case. The use of feral is generally associated with domestic non-native animals which have reverted to a wild state. The most common that one hears about are cats, dogs, and pigs. Cats and pigs are non-native to North America but often establishing wild colonies. In all cases, their breeding will find them reverting to a wild type. Feral cat colonies usually revert to striped tabbies. Dog colonies revert to a yellow cur similar to the Australian dingo. Pigs revert to a long hairy beast. I'm not certain if there is a good word to describe non-native plant varieties which have escaped from cultivation and become nuisances. Dandelions, kudzu, quack grass, multiflora rose, and a lot of others may have a lot of names of which perhaps only half would be allowed here! Some references would use the word "naturalized". Pollination within the colony of some plant species remove certain domestic traits and they eventually may revert to something close to their original wild ancestors. That's why a lot of the wild garlic leeks of the south are more like their original forms which still grow wild in Europe. They are growing wild but non-native and not exactly like the cultivated domestic variety. It's nearly also so with the topsetting "wild" onions which are found from Texas to Georgia. All had tame origins and at one time may have been brought to this continent as a single species. Now I can see small differences from 3 separate locations. All are now growing "wild" as escaped or abandoned domestic things. And that's exactly the same situation with feral cats and dogs! Martin

I am not sure of exactly what to do in your situation - others here have helped me greatly, hopefully they will chime in. I have never had to move alliums other than after the season. My feeling would be to replant them and if they don't want to keep growing, dig them up and store them. The main problem with digging up alliums too early is that they might not have had an opportunity to go through a curing process that among other things prevents them from desiccating in storage. - But, your alliums were probably past their bloom when the gardener removed them which might be close enough. It seems to me that alliums are quite a bit different than some other ornamentals in that the plant with the bloom fading would be much closer to being dormant than for example a daffodil that needs its leaves for a while after blooming The elephant garlic flowers every year. What is generally planted is a bulb, which is at least a year old already. Allium Ampeloprasum can be propagated from seed, bulbils ( little mini bulbs that form at the top of the stem among the flowers), bulblets (little hard bulbs that form underground on the underside of the main bulb which seem to be a way for the plant to carry on even if it is totally destroyed - they can lay dormant in the soil until conditions are favorable - kind of like hardened seed), and bulbs. Varieties of allium ampeloprasum would have been bred (or discovered) to produce more bulb divisions, less bulbils, showier flowers, etc. Bulbs, bulbils, and bulblets will all produce clones of the parent (there can be some changes by chance or over time). A bulb should have all that is needed to flower in the following year, bulbils and bulblets might not - so they may need another year. Seeds can generally produce more variation (even though the plants may look identical, the variation will be there, that is beneficial to the plant population), but are off to a much slower start. They could flower in the second year of growth if conditions are right, but they will trudge on and make it eventually if they need to or die trying. Definitely be sure to save as many of the different clones of the plants that you have so it might be easier to maintain them over time. To make it short, I think you will have flowers next year if the plants survive transplanting and your winter. Best of luck!

Like cultivated onions, wild onions have a distinctive sharp flavor and scent. Many wild onions have a very strong odor, which can sometimes make them very easy to identify when they are growing in the wild. As a general rule, the leaves, bulb, and flowers of wild onions can all be eaten, with most people concentrating on the leaves, rather than the bulb, as wild onions tend to develop small bulbs with shallow roots. Tanken from Wikipedian... and I've had some spicy pickled leeks and they are awesom!!! There are a variety of ways to use wild onions, which may also be called wild leeks in some regions of the world. They can be used in many of the same dishes domestic onions are used in, and they can also be grilled, chopped and used as a garnish, roasted, cooked in sauces, and so forth. The pungent flavor and aroma can be a cause for caution, as a small amount of wild onion will often go a long way