Allium tricoccum – Wild Leek or Ramps

The bulb and leaves of this North American native have a strong garlic-like odor and it has much the same culinary and medicinal uses as garlic (Allium sativum). Leaves emerge in spring when the plant needs some sun, then disappear in early summer. The greenish-white flowers arrive after the leaves have withered away. For strictly ornamental use, overplant with a ground cover such as Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense). Plants will produce either one or two leaves in the Spring. Two-leaf plants will generally flower. For continued leaf production it’s best to harvest a single leaf from two-leaf plants and leave the single leaf on one-leaf plants. Only start harvesting bulbs once your plants have flowered and set seed so that the planting can be sustainable.

Occasionally you may come across mature plants for sale in local stores – more often than not those plants have been  harvested from the wild and, as a consequence, local populations have been declining. Try to get your own patch established from the nursery-propagated plants we sell. You’ll need patience though – this is a slow growing plant that takes many years to mature.