Keeled garlic, a useful winter Allium and edimental in summer

There are Allium species that can be harvested year round in the garden, notably nodding onion / Norw:prærieløk (Allium cernuum) which I’ve blogged about before. In autumn, new shoots of Allium carinatum subsp. pulchellum (keeled garlic / Norw: rosenløk) appear and with the mild weather we’ve been experiencing they’ve already reached about 20 cm high. They are hardy and can survive to at least -20C. It’s now in the autumn that this edimental Allium is most useful. I use the shoots in a similar way to chives (Allium schoenoprasum), which died back some time ago and won’t reappear until spring (unless I force them indoors), in salads, cut and sprinkled on sandwiches, in scrambled egg, quiches etc. I use them from October to April.

8. mars: Pizza greens, all harvested outside after most of the snow disappeared during the day. From the top and clockwise; Ficaria verna (lesser celandine / vårkål), Allium cernuum (nodding onion / prærieløk), Hablitzia tamnoides (Caucasian spinach / stjernemelde), Allium carinatum, Allium senescens (or hybrid), Primula veris (cowslip / marianøkleblom), Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard / løkurt) and Taraxacum spp. (dandelion / løvetann)

There are two colour forms, pink and white which are particularly valuable as they last such a long time and are popular with pollinators:

There are also forms with bulbils which can be a bit invasive:

You’ll see the flowers used as a tasty decoration in my multi-species salads (bottom right in the picture):

Allium carinatum is also popular with pollinators:



One thought on “Keeled garlic, a useful winter Allium and edimental in summer”

  1. Wow such a beautiful salad. We have been moving to planting a perennial forest. I am so blessed to have found your blog just in reading this post and the thicket bean post I see I will find a lot of info I’ve been looking for, easy format. And right to the point. I did try cajanus Pigeon pea but we are just out of the zone an it would be likely be an annual for us in 8. I might try starting earlier indoors for transplant…I may have sown a little too late. It might over winter with a heavy mulch of straw and rabbit manure to keep it warm. Will definitely try the thicket bean.
    What do you suggest are the most vital in Your plantings as far as edibility and other sustainable uses. We would be using for us and forage for our pet rabbit and chickens. If you have covered this in a previous post please give me the link. I am no sure if you are interested buy I do have some wild American persimmon seed I harvested this year and some various herb seeds for trade. Buying seeds is of course worth it but pretty costly for us. Sadly not many in our area are interested in this topic or like to barter. Do you know of any place that has a budget friendly permie pack with an assortment? Or maybe you could suggest it to fellows who might be willing to put it together? Again great website, I look forward of hearing from you.

Leave a Reply to Bana Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *