Plant these bulbs now for a show of purple ‘lollipops’ every spring: George’s Plant Pick of the Week

Here’s PennLive garden writer George Weigel’s Plant Pick of the Week for this week:

* Common name: Ornamental onion ‘Purple Sensation’

* Botanical name: Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’

* What it is: ‘Purple Sensation’ is a variety of ornamental onion that produces three-inch-round, golfball-sized violet-purple flowers in May.

The lollipop-like flowers grow at the tips of the two- to three-foot-tall flower stalks, which are surrounded by green strappy leaves.

‘Purple Sensation’ is a winter-hardy bulb that’s best planted from late September through October. Foliage emerges the following spring and each spring thereafter before dying back and going dormant in summer.

Deer and rabbits have no interest in this onion-family plant grown for its ornamental value. However, bees and