Golly, which Allium? My favorite white Allium cowanii (sp.?) are up.

Here in zone 6a Chicago my shallots, perennial leeks, potato onions, bunching onions, walking onions and garlic have remained green all winter and have barely been phased by snowstorms or freezes.

Last fall, I also planted a huge amount of ornamental alliums scattered thoughout all of my garden beds. The Allium sphaerocephalon started to emerge in Januaary and it already 3-4 inches tall in sheltered spots. As far as I can tell, there is no sign yet of the other smaller species that I planted, though the bulbs look healthy and are sending out roots (I poked around a bit to see how things fared over winter).

Among my large globe alliums, several each of my 'Ambassador' and 'Globemaster' are thrusting out the beginnings of giant cones of leaves. My 'Gladiator' have not yet started to emerge but they are in a spot that tends to remain cooler and frozen longer.

I have read that it is normal for many *established* winter hardy species to begin sending out foliage in autumn. Most of these are extremely hardy and should be able to handle freezes in stride, even with foliage. The tips of the very large globe allium leaves can sometimes get frost damaged in early spring, but it is seldom enough to harm them or affect blooming in any way.

I absolutely love alliums. They are among my very, very favorite plants for their beauty, uniqueness, diversity, squirrel repellant properties and, yes, their amazing flavors, LOL! :-)

Yes, they're just starting to poke up. I hope that they aren't brought along by the abnormally warm weather, only to get zapped later. I've seen that happen before. I try to prevent it if it looks threatening by covering with mulch (leaves, etc), and that usually does the trick.

Iris, I just have the "Purple Globe". I looked again today, I've got lilies sprouting!? I know they are lilies because I only have Lily, Gladiolus, and Purple globe Allium bulbs.

I usually turn the soil over before anything sprouts. I'm going to have to work around them.

Sounds yummy Ladyrose. I've not grown that one.