Planning a ride along our bike path? You’re in for a late-spring treat. Alliums are in bloom in beds up and down our greenway. These cheerful, spherical flowers are members of the same family as onions, garlic and shallots, though ornamental alliums like ours are a much better match for a flowerbed than a salad bowl.
You can find four types of allium blooming park-wide in an array of colors and sizes. Globemasters, our showiest variety, reach heights of nearly four feet and feature purple flowers that can grow as large as soccer balls. (Unbelievable!) Just as tall, Mont Blanc alliums bloom with creamy white flowers. And though our Purple Sensation and His Excellency alliums are smaller in size, these varieties dazzle with deep violet and pink blossoms that are also wonderfully eye-catching.
Their charming, unusual shapes and bright colors make alliums big favorites among Park goers—especially our youngest fans, who delight in finding flowers that soar above their heads! And all who take a closer peek at these flowers are treated to a dense burst of tiny star-shaped blossoms. Flowers within flowers… such a spectacular surprise!
Our alliums are especially striking along our Village crosswalks, where they join a blooming purple palette with our lavender-blue Nepeta. Have you snapped any pictures of these photogenic flowers? Share them in our spring Photo-Synthesis contest by tagging #HudsonRiverPark on Instagram through May 26!