By Rog
United Kingdom 
i have these very prolific white bluebell type flowers all over my garden they are not wild garlic but the white-ish bulbs smell of it >>>Rog.
8 May, 2012
Answers
No, it's not ramsons which is Allium ursinum. You have Allium triquetrum, three cornered leek. It's confusing as both plants are called wild garlic. This one is nice chopped up in a ham sandwich and trendy chefs use it in pesto. It'll take years of hauling it all out if you want to get rid of it - if you ever do.
9 May, 2012
Not the common one anyway as the leaves are much too narrow and the flower heads would be spherical. I thought at first it was summer snowflake and then perhaps drooping star of Bethlehem, but the garlic smell does point to some sort of allium. After some searching about I think it is the Three Cornered leek, Allium triquentrum. That is sometimes known as the white bluebell. This would have a three angled stem and the flowers would have a bright green line down the centre of each petal. You don't say where you live Rob - this plant is most often found in coastal areas in the South West. Does this fit?
9 May, 2012
Definitely good for making pesto!
9 May, 2012
Definitely good for getting rid of friends when you breathe it on them!
9 May, 2012
if it doesnt have the triangular stem it could be Allium paradoxum var normale. It is very similar in flower form. I have a smallish clump getting bigger by the year.
9 May, 2012
Oh, lord, this plant has been the bane of my life in 2 of the gardens I've maintained for years. I have rigorously removed it several times, and it always comes back - the best I've managed is to keep it controlled on a yearly basis by digging out all that I see when they appear. I know why it keeps coming back - it produces tiny little offset bulbs which you miss when you lift out a clump...
9 May, 2012
Pretty, I thought! But then I don't have to deal with it!
9 May, 2012
Oh Beattie, you got in first, and I was so pleased with myself for tracking it down!
9 May, 2012
:-) I live in Cornwall where it's all over the shop! I feel very pleased that I only have a little of it in my present garden. As Bamboo says, the best you can hope for is to try and keep on top of it. And weedkiller kills the top growth but not the bulb.
10 May, 2012
AHA! We have allium paradoxum -not like this photo, not as pretty, -growing all over our local woodlands. It comes up early in the season and smells like onions, but I knew it wasn't Ramsons. I have searched high and low in wildflower books to try to identify it, and I just came across this question and Seaburngirl has answered it!! Thank goodness for that Goyers! This has been bugging me for about 8 years!! THANK YOU!!
Rog....good luck trying to control your allium! It sounds like a tough job!
29 Nov, 2014
Gosh Karen, that one isn't even in the Mitchell Beasley book but I just found it in good old Collins! Thanks SBG and Karen.
30 Nov, 2014
how do i get rid of them as they have over taken my garden from the neighbour
3 Jun, 2017
Dig them up and bin, not compost them. Not gong to be an easy task.
3 Jun, 2017
Previous question
« Lily beetle I have found some on a pot of lilies how do I get rid of
Next question
Ransoms, wild garlic
9 May, 2012