chives 'garlic'
garlic chives or Allium tuberosum
This herb dies back to below ground level each year in autumn, then fresh new growth appears again in spring.
- Position: Full sun
- Soil:Moderately fertile, moist, well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: Fast
- Flowering period: July to August
- Hardiness: Fully hardy
A close relative of ordinary chives, and used in just the same way to flavour cooking, garlic chives have flattened, strappy leaves and a pleasantly garlic taste particularly when leaves are snipped off young. The big healthy clumps come back year after year, and in late summer the starry white flower heads are a real bonus, much loved by bees. The flowers can be eaten too: pick just after they open and sprinkle on salads for a pretty and spicy garnish.
Keep well-watered and snip off flowers to keep plants producing new leaves. In late summer after flowering cut all leaves down to about 5cm above ground level to encourage a new flush of young growth.
Choose a rich soil in sun or part shade and sow sparingly into shallow drills in spring. Cover lightly with more soil and water well. They can also be sown in seed trays full of potting compost: pot on seedlings as they grow and transplanting outside allowing 10cm between plants.
- Pets: TOXIC if eaten