Chives

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) form a dense green cushion of slender tubular leaves that grows fuller with every passing year. In late spring, round lilac-purple flower heads rise above the clump like small lanterns, and all at once the herb bed turns into a flower border.

The clump reaches 30-45 cm in height and about as much across, divides easily in spring or autumn and asks for almost no care. Plant it as an edging in the kitchen or herb garden, in a rock garden, or in a pot on the windowsill where you can cut the leaves all season. It takes drought in its stride, and deer leave it alone.

Key characteristics:

• What makes it special: Unlike the common bulb onion, chives have a much milder, gentler and subtler aroma with a light garlicky undertone. The round flower heads are edible too and look lovely in a salad.
• Dimensions: It forms a dense clump 30-45 cm tall and just as wide.
• Hardiness: Hardy down to -34 °C (USDA zone 4).
• Flowering: In April-May charming spherical inflorescences open in a lilac-violet shade.
• Light: It grows in full sun and in partial shade, but the densest tufts come in the open sun.
• Soil: It takes readily to any garden soil of medium fertility - all it asks is good drainage.
• Watering: Water moderately: on waterlogged sites with poor drainage root rot can set in.
• Care: Care is simple: cut the leaves back at the base and remove spent flower heads so the clump does not self-seed.
• Landscape use: Lovely in groups and as an edging in a herb or vegetable garden, in a rockery, at the front of a mixed border and in pots.