Alliums are sought after for their colourful flowers and decorative seedheads, but they are also invaluable for adding structural interest to mixed planting schemes. 'Violet Beauty' lives up to its name - producing slender and elegant stems in early summer, each topped with somewhat flat-bottomed, dome-shaped clusters of violet flowers, which mix effortlessly with most shades of blue and purple. Team up with lower growing perennials (herbaceous geraniums are ideal) that will mask the allium’s foliage, which usually dies back before the flowers appear.