Grow Wild to Know Wild
Wild Leek(Allium ampeloprasum)

Flowers: June - September
Preferred site: Sunny

Description: Has globe-like heads on stems that can grow to 1m tall. Leaves are just like the common gaden leek, although the stem will not get quite so fat. All parts have a strong onion scent.

Habitats in the wild: Robust, bulbous perennial herb of rank vegetation in sandy and rocky places near the sea, especially in old fields and hedge banks, on sheltered cliff-slopes, by paths and tracks and in drainage ditches and other disturbed places .

Conservation status and threats: Wild Leek is believed to have be en introduced to Britain. It is a scarce species, naturalised in only a few areas.

Foklore and uses: Wild Leek is the County Flower for Cardiff. Used to identify Welsh soldiers in battle against the saxon English, the leek is a familiar emblem of Wales. The flowers, leaves and roots are all edible and have a strong leek/garlic flavour. Wild Leek has the same medicinal virtues as garlic, but in a much milder form. It has fungicidal, antiseptic, tonic and parasiticidal properties and has been used to treat ringworm and other similar ailments. It is also good for the heart and circulation. The juice of the plant is used as a moth repellent (Plants for a future).

Position in garden : Easily grown in sunny, well drained borders. Particularly effective in coastal situations or as a archectural plant in gravel gardens.

How to plant and when: Plant in well-dug ground in spring, watering young plants well. Once established, Wild Leek is drought tolerant.

Propagation: Seed (sown in early spring in a good loam-based seed compost) or division of the small clumps of plants in spring represent the best means of propagating Wild Leek. The variety babingtonii can easily be increased by planting the bulbils from the flower heads as these mature and fall from the plant: they should be planted straight away, in their final flowering position, approximately 1 inch deep.

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