If you're looking for an early summer day out you could do no better than the fabulous Arundel Castle in West Sussex. Especially wonderful for garden lovers are the 10,000 amazing alliums in bloom as part of the castle's annual Allium Extravaganza; one of the largest displays in the country.
The beautiful pop-pom headed flowers can grow as tall as five feet and are otherwise known as ‘ornamental onions'.
This year's display will showcase a brand new variety, the Stratos Allium, which features large spherical purple flower heads. Existing varieties to note include the firework headed Schubertii, stunning violet-blue Gladiator, cream coloured Mount Everest, Christophii featuring the largest flowering heads and Summer Drummer; the tallest of them all.
The Allium Extravaganza stretches across the Castle's walled gardens, around the rill pond in the Collector Earl's Garden and into the Cut Flower Garden.
Head Gardener Martin Duncan explains: "We expect the display to be at its peak towards the end of May and into June, so we'd encourage visitors to join us during this time to see the flowers at their best.
"A great sequel to our Annual Tulip Festival, this display is a real talking point for our visitors with 14 different varieties of alliums creating a stunning purple showcase throughout the gardens."
Arundel Castle's gardens are open from 10am to 5pm Tuesdays to Sundays, Mondays in August and Bank Holiday Mondays until 30 October 2016. Admission prices start at £9.
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