Yes, they bloom the first year as a rule if the bulbs you buy are from a quality supplier. I've never had them not bloom even if they were the display stand type from say Lowes or Walmart. However as I've found out the hard way with the Drumstick Alliums some of them do spread around by seed and by bulblets (which would make them "easy to grow" by some peoples definition). On the Drumstick Allium the foliage is slender and chive like so not too obtrustive when ripening. I've also grown Allium moly and they were easy to grow and again the foliage wasn't so large as to draw attention to it when it was ripening. In my zone I plant mine in the fall(like about now) same as I do my Garlic. But I've heard you can also plant them in the spring at about the same time as you would be planting your non-ornamental onions. A pretty combination I had going for many years was the mauvish rose Angel Face and the purple Drumstick Allium..... I sure hope others will chime in with more varieties to try for you.

maryl, I think that I snoozed on the Allium too long, I think, because when I looked at the online sites and many of them were sold out. I guess they would be planted in November so I might have to wait for next year.

I was interested in that enormous Ambassador. The color looks very appealing.

I just received from a friend "Azure" and live on the NC Coast zone 8 or 7b.. I'm looking for a place to plant them now in the yard since I still have time. But tempted to pot them...

Teresa

OOH, OOh. I forgot about another Allium I saw at a teaching garden locally that was a real winner: A. Schubertii (Schuberts allium). It was mid May here and the color of the blooms had already passed, but it was still showy enough with its largish "Fireworks" shaped seed heads to draw my attention even amongst hundreds of other plants in bloom. According to the staff it's one of those double duty plants - good fresh and dried; they were as impressed with it as I was.........Teresa; potting works for me. I have heavy clay soil and many bulbs just won't make it here, so I pot them up. I have 3 year old glads in a pot as we speak. I just put them under the eaves of the house during the winter and they have made it fine so far. You are in an even warmer zone then I am so you probably don't have to worry about cold winters too much. But speaking of that, I don't know what the chill factor (if any) on alliums is. Zone 8 may still be cold enough for them. Getting bulbs to bloom the first year usually isn't a problem in our warmish zones. Getting them to bloom in succeeding years is.