Bishy Barnabees · Salle Moor Hall Farm
Alliums Dried (Seconds) | Half-Price Norfolk Cottage Alliums
Allium hollandicum 'Purple Sensation', Allium sphaerocephalon, or A. cristophii
Bunch details
- Also known as
- Allium · Ornamental Onion · Cottage Garden Allium · Drumstick Allium
- Stem length
- Slightly shorter than standard grade
- Colour
- Natural beige-tan to soft parchment, some stems may show slight tonal variation from the main batch
- Texture
- Rock-hard spherical seed heads (composite of dozens of tiny florets), firm woody stems. One of the most durable dried products in the range.
- Colour treatment
- Natural - no dyes, bleaches or preservatives
- Harvest season
- Late summer / early autumn (August-September) when seed heads are set
- Drying method
- Barn air-dried at Salle Moor Hall, hung upside-down
- Growing method
- Chemical-free, hand-grown on our cutting field
- Expected longevity
- Years indoors - alliums are one of the most durable dried elements available. Seconds grade lasts identically to standard grade.
Not every stem comes out of the drying barn perfect. Some have a bald patch where the seed head did not fill. Some got knocked moving around the barn and lost a section of florets. Some are shorter than the standard bunch, some are bent rather than poker-straight, and a few dried to a slightly different tone from the rest of the batch. None of it stops them being useful. It just stops them going into the standard bunches, so they go out at half the price instead.
Same alliums, same field, same barn, same chemical-free growing and no dyes or bleaches. The difference is cosmetic and visible. A dried allium head is close to indestructible whatever it looks like, so a knocked one will last exactly as long as a perfect one.
They earn their place in wreath work, where a partial head slots in better than a full sphere anyway, and in craft where you are breaking the head apart for the florets. In a busy mixed arrangement or a big wall installation nobody can tell. They are also the sensible way to practise with architectural stems. For a single-stem display seen from all angles, or anything going to a wedding or given as a gift, buy the standard grade.
Recommended uses
Styling context
Cottage garden · Modern minimalist · Rustic farmhouse · Autumn arrangement · Wedding backdrop · Studio photography · Practice piece · Wall art · Contemporary interior · Craft workspace
About our dried flowers
Every bunch is grown, hand-harvested and barn-dried at Salle Moor Hall Farm in Reepham, Norfolk — our own cutting field, our own drying barn, our own hands. Grown chemical-free with no dyes, no bleaches, and no preservatives. Packed in compostable packaging in a rigid box to protect the stems in transit. Dispatched within 2-3 working days. Properly good English dried flowers with the story of the summer they came from.