Allium 'Ambassador'
Allium 'Ambassador' · Amaryllidaceae
Very large, tightly packed globes of deep violet-purple on thick, straight stems. Among the last of the big alliums to flower, and the longest lasting.
- Size
- 4 ft tall, 10 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early June to early July
- Pets
- Toxic (moderate)
- Job in a bed
- Accent
A bed built around allium 'Ambassador'
The planner designed this bed around allium 'Ambassador' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why allium 'Ambassador' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Moor grass 'Greenlee' × 9, tan
- 2 October daphne × 8, pink
- 3 Wild quinine × 3, white
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 5 Dwarf English boxwood × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Eastern bee balm × 3, pink
- 7 Allium 'Ambassador' × 1, purple
- 8 Greigii tulip × 7, red
Why this plant
- The only purple.
Why here
- Forward of its place. At 4 ft it belongs at the back of the bed: this far forward it stands in the way of what is behind it.
- One plant. An accent is used singly, like a punctuation mark.
Why now
- In flower for five weeks. From early June to early July.
- Part of the bed's peak. With moor grass 'Greenlee' and eastern bee balm in early June: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
- Leaves gone by midsummer. They die back and leave bare ground. A perennial that comes up late stands beside it, and grows over the gap.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. October daphne and moor grass 'Greenlee' finish the front edge. Cool colours (pink and purple) with yellow and red as the warm notes, and tan and white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where allium 'Ambassador' goes in a border
At 4 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: accent. An upright plant used singly, like a punctuation mark, and repeated at intervals to give the bed rhythm.
The darkest of the giant alliums, with a globe so dense that it looks solid. It stays in flower for five weeks and then dries well on the stem.
- The last big allium of the season
- A bold accent in a June border
- Dried seed heads
What to plant with allium 'Ambassador'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for five weeks, from early June; grows up in time to hide its dying leaves; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- Lamb's ear: its silver leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; bold leaves against its medium ones; low enough (12 in) to stand in front of it.
- Russian sage: takes over when it finishes, flowering from mid July; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about allium 'Ambassador'
Does allium 'Ambassador' need sun or shade?
Allium 'Ambassador' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does allium 'Ambassador' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does allium 'Ambassador' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early June to early July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Mid June to mid July |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early June to early July |
| Zone 6 | Early June to early July |
| Zone 7 | Late May to late June |
| Zone 8 | Late May to late June |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should allium 'Ambassador' be planted?
10 in (25 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is about its full width, so each plant keeps its own outline.
It grows 4 ft (120 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many allium 'Ambassador' plants do I need?
At 10 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 17 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 13 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 55 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, repeated along the bed at intervals; a slender one reads better as a clump of three.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is allium 'Ambassador' poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: moderate toxicity to people, dogs, cats and horses. Like all onions, it can damage red blood cells in dogs, cats and horses if eaten. Eating the bulbs in quantity can also upset a person's stomach.
What can I plant to hide allium 'Ambassador''s leaves after it flowers?
A bulb's leaves have to be left to yellow for about six weeks after flowering, to feed next year's flowers. Plant it among perennials that come up late and spread wide, and they grow over the leaves as they fade:
- Blue false indigo: 4 ft tall and 4 ft wide, in flower late May to mid June.
- Peony: 3 ft tall and 3 ft wide, in flower late May to late June.
- Daylily: 2½ ft tall and 24 in wide, in flower late June to early August.
What does allium 'Ambassador' look like in winter?
Allium 'Ambassador' is underground: it dies back after flowering and waits as a bulb until spring. Mark where it is, so a fork does not find it first.
More Allium
- Allium 'Gladiator' Allium 'Gladiator'
- Allium 'Globemaster' Allium 'Globemaster'
- Allium 'Mount Everest' Allium 'Mount Everest'
- Blue allium Allium caeruleum
- Chives Allium schoenoprasum
- Curly onion Allium senescens subsp. glaucum
- Drumstick allium Allium sphaerocephalon
- Garlic chives Allium tuberosum
- Giant allium Allium giganteum
- Golden garlic Allium moly
- Japanese onion 'Ozawa' Allium thunbergii 'Ozawa'
- Nodding onion Allium cernuum
- Ornamental onion 'Millenium' Allium 'Millenium'
- Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' Allium hollandicum 'Purple Sensation'
- Ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' Allium 'Summer Beauty'
- Pink lily leek Allium oreophilum
- Schubert's allium Allium schubertii
- Sicilian honey garlic Allium siculum
- Star of Persia Allium christophii
- Turkestan onion Allium karataviense
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Bulb
- Size
- 4 ft (120 cm) tall, 10 in (25 cm) wide
- Plant
- 10 in (25 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Early June to early July; globes; purple
- Leaves
- Medium texture, summer-dormant; green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.