The Allium from Mars

My son is growing alliums in his garden for the first time, and apparently two of the ‘Globemaster’ bulbs were delivered by a UFO rather than by UPS, judging by the ‘antennae’ they decided to produce … in order to ‘phone home’, no doubt!

I was immediately reminded of a favorite sitcom back in the 1960s called My Favorite Martian with Ray Walston in the title role, complete with early-special-effects antennae atop his head. Perhaps this is the Allium from Mars?

 

One wonders what these little mini-allium-clusters are properly called, and why they occur. Are they two individual flowers that decided to get a better view of the world than their siblings, by developing a much longer stem? If indeed just one flower, they look more double than single.

Google’s image search seems to include only ‘perfect’ allium globes, so that was no help. And how does phrase it, anyway? ‘Allium antenna’? ‘Allium ears’?  The other flowerheads in the group are exactly as one would expect them to be.

Wherever (or whatever planet) they came from, they certainly give those two plants some extra added personality! 🙂