The Onion Garden Chicago at the Ringve Botanical Garden on 3rd July 2024

The Onion Garden Chicago at the Ringve Botanical Garden in Trondheim, Norway contains over 100 Allium species and over 400 different accessions including a collection of old Norwegian onions which I collected across the country with support from the Norwegian Genetic Resource Centre and the Norwegian Agricultural Authority.
You can safely eat all Alliums and most species have in the past been wild foraged. A few do have an unpleasant taste, but most are good to eat including some of the best-known ornamental onions, some of the best edimentals (combined food and beauty) and edi-ento-mentals: also a very popular genus for pollinators like bumble bees.
Members of KVANN (Norwegian Seed Savers) in Norway can order most of the Alliums grown in the garden each autumn (please support us by becoming a member at https://kvann.no/bli-med)
These are the 40 main Alliums I talk about, in order of appearance:
Allium cernuum (nodding onion; Chicago onion; prærieløk)
Allium cernuum “Alan Kapuler”(nodding onion; Chicago onion; prærieløk)
Allium canadense
Allium fistulosum (rooftop onion; takløk from the Gudbrandsdalen valley)
a) From Søre Kleivmellomsæter, Mysusæter in Rondane at 885m asl
b) From Nordre Geitsida, Sel municipality
Allium cyathophorum var. cyathophorum
Allium hymenorhizum
Allium insubricum
Allium validum (Pacific or swamp onion from California)
Allium scorodoprasum (sand leek; bendelløk - garlic derives from old norse geirlauk meaning spear onion as demonstrated)
Allium tricoccum (ramps)
Allium caeruleum “Bulbilliferous form”
Allium wallichii (Sherpa or Nepal onion)
Allium senescens (Siberian onion)
Allium fistulosum (Welsh onion; pipeløk) from Skedsmokorset, Akershus
Allium sativum (hardneck / serpent garlic; slangehvitløk)
Allium victorialis “Cantabrica” from northern Spain (Victory onion; seiersløk)
Allium victorialis “Røst, Norway” from the island in the Lofoten Islands in Norway (Victory onion; seiersløk)
Allium x proliferum “Catawissa onion” (topset, Egyptian or walking onions; luftløk, etasjeløk)
Allium pskemense (tower onion; tårnløk)
Allium pskemense x fistulosum "Wietse's onion"
Allium ochotense from Japan (earlier Allium victorialis)
Allium carolinianum
Allium moly (golden garlic, lily leek; gull-løk)
Allium caesium
Allium schoenoprasum (chives; gressløk) – deadheaded
Allium douglasii (Douglas' onion; Douglasløk)
Allium cernuum “Dwarf White” (nodding onion; Chicago onion; prærieløk)
Allium prattii x ovalifolium? (Chinese hybrid)
Allium galanthum
Allium rotundum
Allium schoenoprasum subsp. sibiricum “Hokkaido” – later flowering than other chives
Allium ovalifolium var. leuconeurum
Allium flavum subsp. flavum var. minus (small yellow onion; doggløk)
Allium ramosum
Allium stipitatum (Persian shallots; Persisk sjalott)
Allium maximowiczii var shibutsuense f. album
Allium victorialis “Landegode, Nordland, Norway” (Victory onion; seiersløk)
Allium nutans “Lena” (Siberian nodding onion; Sibirsk nikkeløk)
Allum lenkoranicum