Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Yorktown Onions

More than thirty-five years ago, I "landed" in Virginia from the Midwest.
My husband and I would go out and explore our new state.
One day while driving along the York River in the county of the same name,
I was mesmerized by a purple flowering plant that grew wild.
A huge globe of purple flowers sat at the top of a long stem.

Photo credit: Richard_b via morguefile.com

I was so enchanted, I picked one 
and brought it home to our tiny apartment.
Years later, I learned that these plants, called Yorktown Onion
(allium ampeloprasum, also called wild leek) are protected by county law.
 Not sure why since they aren't a native plant,
but since the seeds supposedly came over during the Revolutionary War,
there must be some connection to the Yorktown Battlefield.

Copy and paste this link into your browser:
 http://thequeenofseaford.blogspot.com/2009/06/yorktown-onions_06.html
you'll see the Yorktown Onions growing wild. 
You'll be glad you did.
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