Nodding Onion

Nodding onion is an adorable perennial wildflower native to prairies, open woodlands, rocky slopes, and meadows across much of North America. It grows from a bulb and produces small clumps of narrow, grass-like leaves along with slender stems topped by distinctive drooping clusters of pink to lavender bell-shaped flowers in mid- to late summer. The nodding flower heads attract a variety of native bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Drought-tolerant and adaptable to a range of well-drained soils, nodding onion is valued for its ecological benefits, ornamental beauty, and edible leaves and bulbs, which have a mild onion flavor. All parts of the plant have been used traditionally by native people of the Pacific Northwest as both food and medicine.