Here are my allotment Welsh Onions as seen late last summer. They are simply bursting to make lots of little onions. The flowers are white, a good 2-3 centimeters across, and the stems are around half a meter tall. And so yes, they do look like giant chives, but with more vigour and verve. I anyway like their style (admittedly a little Triffid-like) as they try to outdo their globe artichoke neighbours.
The artichokes are also intent on self-renewal, and it’s often a toss up between eating them and wanting to enjoy their wonderful mauve flowers. But then this is what I love most about my allotment – the endless cycle of regeneration. It’s the same for the gardener too, in spirit, if not in body, though I often wonder if I might not respond well to a good dosing with liquid seaweed fertilizer – just about now I should think, with spring at last upon us.
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This week’s guest challenge at Paula’s Lost in Translation is Renewal. Please follow the link to see some inspirational shots from Michelle Lunato.
Tish Farrell 
Ah, the spires and spears and subtle sweetness of onions like so many prickly people I’ve known and come to love, who make you cry. Cheers, Tish. Bill
Onion love, eh! How are you doing, Bill. I think I must email you for a chat.
Just dandy here, your email always welcome! Spring, spring, sprung. Best, Bill
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Almost a poem that first comment. A sort of ‘inter allium’. And yes, can’t believe I’ve seen so much sun in the past couple of days. The tomato seedlings are going ‘Wheeeeee’.
Tish, we’re artichoke (and onion) lovers here. It would be fantastic to grow them ourselves. I always thin that if all thistles were artichokes, what a wonderful world it would be. 🙂
janet
Oh indeed – if thistles were artichokes, I wouldn’t need to do half so much weeding. What a great thought, Janet.
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Lovely tribute to your allotment and nice take on the challenge, Tish. We have to cherish what remains and it’s our obligation to foster its renewal, we said as we were working very hard in the garden today, this post was helpful for us. Our artichokes look great, but they are small and not so tasty, so we keep the flowers; they look spooky great in winter. 🙂
Happy gardening, fab four. Perhaps your artichokes need splitting so you can plant on any suckers. Then you can keep some old plants for the flowers, and start off some new plants for eating 🙂
Ha, that’s exactly what we’ll do, thanks a lot, Tish!! 🙂
This is a gorgeous photo, Tish, and particularly in black and white. Thank you for originality too 🙂
Aren’t the onion family wonderful!
I’m not sure I could live without them. We must consume a field full in a year. I know I can’t grow anywhere near enough, and am guilty of great onion envy when a fellow allotmenteer has grown a particularly fine crop 🙂
Allotment-envy! 😀
Love how you captured this wonderful photo!
Onions and artichokes together , for a fabulous B&W, Tish!
Thank you, Anna.
What a beautiful edit Tish. Looks like one of those old etchings.
A sort of Durer does onions??? You are very kind, Jude 🙂
I agree, it does!
A beautiful photograph and a reminder that we can learn everything from our gardens….the natural rhythms and cycles…..oh if only we humans were so clever:) Have a lovely day and week ahead…janet.
A lovely sunny week to you, too, Janet. It looks as though we might be in luck.
A superb photo, and yet again a post that doesn’t announce its genesis in a challenge, but meets it absolutely.
(I’ve migrated. Blogging at 12monthsinwarsaw if you want to join me.)
Oh indeed, I’ll be dogging your footsteps, Meg. Happy landings in Warsaw.
I do love alliums of pretty much any ilk and so do the bees, which is a joy to behold in the summer. Nothing finer han sitting i the garden, listening to them bumble about. Gorgeous. And lovely pic again, Tish
Bumbling bumbles, hopefully they’ll soon be about. Cheers, Lynn.
Let’s hope 🙂
I send you joy Tish 😀 And I wish you a good night. 🙂
Your joy most gratefully received, Nomzi. Wishing you likewise 🙂
Thanks love. 🙂
Tish the image is a beautiful one. I confess at being distracted by the artichoke. One of my favorite vegetables but not keen to grow in our climate. How wonderful that your garden is a home for the beauty.
I love this shot!
Oh that’s made me smile 🙂
They look exactly like the spring onions I planted.
I shook the seeds and planted a second crop.
My Toms have produced fruit and we are eating them already. I am so chuffed!
Autumn is in the air so I’m hoping they all hurry up before the frost arrives!
Well done on the tomato growing. Nothing like a home-grown tom. Here, I’m just sowing seeds, and have a few tiny seedlings. Always an anxious moment 🙂
I started growing seeds inside those plastic 2ltr ice cream cartons, then later, transferred the seedlings to large pots around the pool.
These tomatoes taste sweeter than those we normally buy in the shops. I’m quite impressed!
Onion envy! Love the notion 🙂 Fabulous photos and challenge from Michelle and you’ve risen to it.
Thank you, Jo 🙂
I love onions! Great photograph!
They do look so prolific and perky. At last it is cooling down over here, Autumn has arrived and I am going to plant tomatoes…
Love your different take on this challenge, Tish…mine is prosaic, predictable, coming to the blogosphere soon
I don’t believe you _ prosaic or predictable-wise 🙂
OK, go look!