Allium cernuum (Nodding onion)

Imagine a graceful native onion with soft pink, bell-shaped flowers that gently nod at the tips of slender stems—that’s nodding onion. Sow in fall or cold-stratify and sow in spring. (~25 seeds) Allium cernuum (Nodding onion) is a low-maintenance, wildlife-supporting native perennial known for its delicate flowers and subtle onion scent. Native to much of North America, it naturally grows in prairies, open woodlands, rocky slopes, and meadows. Blooming in early to mid-summer, its drooping flower clusters provide an important nectar source during a key period for pollinators. Nodding onion thrives in full sun to partial shade and prefers well-drained soils, including sandy, rocky, or gravelly sites. Once established, it is drought-tolerant, long-lived, and forms tidy clumps rather than spreading aggressively. Unlike many garden onions, it blends beautifully into ornamental and native plantings. Elegant, resilient, and quietly hardworking, nodding onion adds soft movement and structure t