Herb Chives, How to Grow Chives and the History of Chives

We all know the herb chives very well indeed. Chives have that delicious pungent flavour which can only be associated with herbs of the allium species. The others of course, being garlic and onions.

Chives have a mild onion flavour and beautiful pink or white flowers depending on the variety.

The most common variety of chives is allium shoenoprasum and these are the chives that have the beautiful pink flowers and the chives most used for culinary purposes.

Varieties of Chives

Chives allium schoenoprasum

This is the most common variety of chives and it is a hardy perennial plant growing 30 cm in height. The leaves of these chives are green and cylindrical. Purple globular flowers adorn these chives all summer.

Chinese Chives allium tuberosum

These chives have a mild sweet garlic flavour and a tuberous root. The leaves of the chives are green and flat and the chive plant has white starry-like flowers during the summer.

Pink Chives allium schoenoprasum roseum

This variety of chives is also a hardy perennial but the chives’ leaves are shorter only growing to 20 cm and the chives’ flowers are a paler pink. They are good in flower arrangements.

Fine Leaved Chives allium schoenoprasum ‘fine-leaved’

Also a hardy perennial variety of chives and grow to 20cm in height. These chives have narrow cylindrical leaves and the same pink globular flowers throughout summer.

Garlic Chives allium tuberosum

These chives are taller than the others varieties of chives and grow to 40 cm. Also a hardy perennial, these chives have white flowers all summer. The leaves of these chives have a sweet garlic flavour.

Cultivating Chives

Chives are very easy to grow and make a wonderful addition to the herb garden but equally, chives can be used as border plants and will create a very attractive feature, especially when the chives flower with pink in the summer.

• Chives are easy to cultivate from seed but do need a temperature of 19 deg for the seed to germinate.
• If sowing chives outside, wait for warmer weather in late spring, as the soil needs to be warm for seeds of chives to germinate.
• Chives need moist, rich and well-drained soil but chives will tolerate a poorer soil.
• When planting out, chives will need a sunny or partially shady position in the garden.
• Chives should be transplanted or thinned to 15 cm apart. Water the chives in dry spells otherwise the leaves will turn yellow and die.
• Once the chives start to come into bud, remove these stems to ensure a better crop of chives. This will also maintain the flavour of the chives.
• To grow chives in the winter, dig up a clump of chives in the autumn, replant in good, moist soil and keep the chives somewhere warm and light.

Growing Chives in a Container

Chives are the ideal herbs to plant in a container, which can be in your garden or on a windowsill. Keep chives out of full sun if they are in a pot outside.

Chives grown in containers will require a large amount of watering.

Harvesting Chives

When cutting bunches of chives, leave about 5cm for regrowth. Chives can withstand this level of harvesting 4 times a year so it is advisable to grow several plants to ensure a continuous supply.

Also, remember that as chives are bulbs, a certain amount of greenery will be needed to rejuvenate the bulb for next year’s crop of chives.

Pick the flowers of chives when they have fully opened and they can be used in salads or in flower displays.

Preserving Chives

Chives are one of the herbs that do not dry well so keeping chives fresh is the key to keeping the flavour and the colour.

Seal bunches of chives in a plastic bag and keep in the fridge for up to seven days.

Chop chives and freeze them in ice cube trays and they can be available at any time for cooking.

History of Chives

Chives are one of the most ancient of all the herbs and the first record of chives dates back 4000 years to China when Marco Polo reported his culinary appreciation of chives to the West.

• Chives were used in China to stop bleeding and as an antidote to poison.
• There are also records of chives being used in the Middle Ages but strangely, chives were not found in European gardens until the 16th Century.
• Chives now grow wild in Europe, Australia and North America where they thrive in the warm and hot regions.