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Allium nutans

Allium nutans
Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0

Allium nutans, known as Siberian or blue chives, is a hardy bulbous onion from wet meadows across Eurasia. It does best in moist, sunny to lightly shaded spots with cold winters.

Family
Amaryllidaceae (Daffodil & onion family)
Grows as
Bulb
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Keep soil consistently moist during the growing season, but avoid waterlogging when dormant.
Soil
Moist, fertile, well-drained loam or garden soil.
Temperature
Hardy to around -30 °C; needs a cold winter dormancy.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
E. European Russia to Russian Far East
Climate
temperate

About

Allium nutans, English common name Siberian chives or blue chives, is a species of onion native to European Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tibet, Xinjiang, and Asiatic Russia (Altay Krai, Krasnoyarsk, Tuva, Western Siberia, Amur Oblast). It grows in wet meadows and other damp locations.

Allium nutans has one or two bulbs up to 1.5 to 2.0 cm (5⁄8 to 3⁄4 in) in diameter. Scapes are winged and 2-angled, 30 to 60 cm (12 to 24 in) tall. Leaves are flat, tapering at both ends, 6 to 10 mm (0.24 to 0.39 in) wide at the widest spot (rarely to 15 mm or 0.59 in), about half as long as the scapes. Umbels are spherical, with many pink to pale purple flowers.

Other Allium plants

South Idaho onion · Abrams' allium · Allium aciphyllum · Tapertip onion · Allium aeginiense · Allium aflatunense · Allium agrigentinum · Allium alabasicum · Allium albotunicatum · Allium alibile · Altai Onion · Allium altissimum

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Allium nutans by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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