Spring Wildflowers: Nodding Onion

Nodding onions (Allium cernuum) are beautiful, delicate flowers that get their common name from the slight bend at the top of the main stem, which differentiates it from others in the allium family. The leaves are long and narrow, and a single stem holds a cluster of tiny blooms that spread in a firework shape. Petals can be white or cream to various shades of pink.

Photo Credit: Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington, Flickr

Nodding onions favor moist places in the woods and grassy slopes from foothills to subalpine regions. According to wildflower guides, they can bloom from May until October; however, I have never observed them past August.