When can I remove allium leaves?

Hi again!,
My gorgeous alliums have rather yellowy/dry leaves that look a bit messy.

Is it too soon to remove them and when should I remove them? Just wondering, they make the border look a little bit messy.

Thanks again
Fin

 

Beautiful Alliums!

I'd leave the leaves until they are definitely yellowing and dying off. That way the bulbs get the most out of them and will flower even better the next years.

My Alliums are grown together with early tulips. The tulips flower first, and their leaves mask the spindly Allium leaves for a month or so until I pull the tulips out. By that time the surrounding plants have grown to fill the area and the Allium flower heads are drying to become lovely "space alien flowers" as my daughter called them when she was young.

If you'd like to mask the dying leaves now, how about buying pots of chives from supermarket and plopping them in in front and around the Alliums? Chives have pretty, strong leaves and will flower later in the summer. They are hardy and make a brilliant partner to their showier Allium cousins. And chives is the top summer food, clipped over anything, mixed into sour cream...

 

Just accept the yellowing leaves GardeningFin. They wont last too long. When the leaves are brown they can simply be gathered up.....they will be separated from the bulbs by then.
If you want even better flowers next year, be patient and wait a couple of weeks longer

 

Thanks - I'll look into getting some chives - great tip :-)

 

I thought I'd probably need to be a bit more patient - thank you!

 

I love Aliums and was surprised how quickly they spread. The downside is their leaves, hence I have always planted them surrounded by other flowers to cover them up.

 

have 10 new ones up in my garden now. 5 of one type , 5 of another type, both purple with a tiny difference in each, one fully blooms one week earlier that then other. anyway, I am leaving them totally alone, letting the leaves fall when ready etc. as I do for 99% of my other bulbs, which is why my supply keeps getting bigger each year.