Even gardeners with tiny gardens can grow alliums in containers. If large drumstick blooms are what you're after, the dying foliage can be disguised behind either a few pots of bushy annuals or a clipped box for a more formal look.

Always use a reasonably deep container, especially for larger varieties of allium. As a rule of thumb, plant three times the depth of the bulb in well-drained compost. This also applies when planting in the open ground.

Although the container plants will need repotting into fresh compost every year, specimens in the soil need little further attention. As long as the soil is reasonably fertile, they should not require extra feeding as long as their foliage is left to die back naturally. This enables them to build up energy in their bulbs for the following year. Like some other bulbs, they are naturally long-lived and survive for years if left undisturbed.

All alliums are fully to frost hardy in all parts of the country. They prefer an open, sunny situation and well-drained soil. If left undisturbed they will form large clumps. These can be split into smaller clumps during Autumn, which is also the time for planting new bulbs. Contact with the bulbs may irritate the skin or aggravate skin allergies, so gloves should always be worn when handling allium bulbs.