Ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty'
Allium 'Summer Beauty' · Amaryllidaceae
Lavender-pink globes in July over a tidy mound of glossy, strap-like leaves. It is sterile, so it never seeds, and the seed heads dry to a pleasing tan.
- Size
- 20 in tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Early July to early August
- Pets
- Toxic (moderate)
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty'
The planner designed this bed around ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' 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 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' × 3, lavender
- 2 Cheddar pinks 'Tiny Rubies' × 27, pink
- 3 Heath aster 'Snow Flurry' × 5, white
- 4 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 3, blue
- 5 Little bluestem 'Standing Ovation' × 3, tan
- 6 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 7 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 4, purple
- 8 Spring starflower × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only lavender.
Why here
- At the back. At 20 in it is seen over Cheddar pinks 'Tiny Rubies' (4 in) in front of it, and has nothing behind it to hide.
- A step in the back row. Next to Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' (4 ft) and little bluestem 'Standing Ovation' (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for five weeks. From early July to early August.
- Fills a gap. For three of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 4 of the 5 groups (80%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. There is more Cheddar pinks 'Tiny Rubies' than anything else, 27 plants in all. Cheddar pinks 'Tiny Rubies', fine in leaf, stands next to bold-leaved silver sage, and each shows the other off.
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 ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' goes in a border
At 20 in it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium short (18 to 24 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
It flowers a month before 'Millenium', so the two together give ten weeks of globes. The dried heads stand into winter, which earns it a place in naturalistic plantings with prairie dropseed.
- Midsummer colour for sunny beds
- Matrix planting with grasses
- Low-maintenance edging
What to plant with ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Prairie dropseed: takes over when it finishes, flowering from mid August.
- Purple coneflower: in flower together for five weeks, from early July; tall enough (3 ft) to stand behind it.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for five weeks, from early July; spires rising out of its mound.
Questions about ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty'
Does ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' need sun or shade?
Ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 9. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early July to early August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Mid July to early August |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early July to early August |
| Zone 6 | Early July to early August |
| Zone 7 | Late June to late July |
| Zone 8 | Late June to late July |
| Zone 9 | Late June to mid July |
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 ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 20 in (50 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' plants do I need?
At 12 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 12 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 11 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 38 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: moderate toxicity to dogs, cats and horses. Like all onions, it can damage red blood cells in dogs, cats and horses if eaten.
Rated from the ASPCA. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
Is there a pet-safe plant like ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty'?
These come closest to doing what ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Balloon flower: the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 4 in taller, blue, white or pink, not lavender.
- Speedwell 'Red Fox': the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; belongs at the front, not in the middle, 6 in shorter.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty'?
Ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' is over by early August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Prairie dropseed: from mid August to mid September, 2½ ft tall (a recorded partner).
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall.
- Japanese anemone: from mid August to early October, 3 ft tall.
What does ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' look like in winter?
Ornamental onion 'Summer Beauty' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Allium
- Allium 'Ambassador' Allium 'Ambassador'
- 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'
- 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
Zone guides: Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 20 in (50 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium short (18 to 24 in)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Early July to early August; globes; lavender
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae
Checked against ASPCA poison lists. 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.