Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Honey Garlic bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called Honey garlic, Sicilian honey lily, Mediterranean bells, Bulgarian honey garlic (Nectaroscordum siculum).

More about honey garlic

About Honey Garlic

Nectaroscordum siculum · also called Honey garlic, Sicilian honey lily · flowering

Nectaroscordum siculum is a graceful, bulbous perennial in the Allium family, native to damp woodland margins and scrubby hillsides around the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions. In late spring it sends up tall stems bearing loose, pendulous umbels of cream, pink, and green bell-shaped flowers that become erect and papery as they set seed — making it equally ornamental in fruit. It is a low-maintenance, naturalising bulb that thrives with minimal care once established; the most important tip is to allow the architectural seed heads to ripen, as the plant self-seeds freely and colonises shaded borders. All Allium relatives (Nectaroscordum) are toxic to cats and dogs.

Plant type: flowering

The reasons honey garlic isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming honey garlic traces back to one of these, roughly in order of how common they are:

Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.
Too much nitrogen feed, driving lush foliage at the expense of flowers (very common with general or lawn feeds).
The plant has not been deadheaded, so it stops flowering once it sets seed.
Irregular watering — drought or waterlogging at the budding stage makes buds abort.
It is still too young or was checked by a transplant and is rebuilding before flowering.

Feeding honey garlic a high-nitrogen general feed and growing it in too little sun — you get a big leafy plant and almost no flowers.

The fix — how to get honey garlic to flower

Maximise sun. Give honey garlic the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers.
Switch the feed. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.
Deadhead regularly. Remove spent flowers often to keep it producing more rather than stopping to set seed.
Water consistently. Keep moisture even through budding and flowering — drought-then-flood swings make buds drop.

Light and feeding do most of the heavy lifting here. Dial in the spot with the light guide for honey garlic and get the feeding right with the honey garlic fertilising schedule — the wrong feed (too much nitrogen) is one of the most common silent reasons a healthy plant makes leaves instead of flowers.

Bloom season and what to expect

Honey Garlic flowers across its growing season (mostly summer) and, kept fed and deadheaded, can bloom for many weeks or right up to frost.

Post-bloom care so it flowers again

Deadhead, keep feeding lightly, and many will rebloom; collect seed from the best plants at the end of the season if you want to grow them again.

For everything else this plant needs day to day, see the full honey garlic care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Honey Garlic blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my honey garlic flower?

Honey Garlic blooms on the season's growth given enough sun, warmth and the right feed — there is no cold or photoperiod trick, just good growing conditions and a bloom-leaning feed. The most common reason it is not happening: Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.

How do I make honey garlic bloom?

Give honey garlic the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.

When does honey garlic normally bloom?