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Herbaceous Perennial Flower,
Herb,
Vegetable (Cool Season) - Onion Family
Allium schoenoprasum
Alliaceae Family
Great for dressing up potatoes and spicing up salads, this easy-to-grow
Allium’s pinkish-lavender flowers make an attractive clump or edging in
flower gardens.
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Site Characteristics
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Sunlight:
Soil conditions:
- tolerates acid soil
- tolerates droughty soil
- tolerates damp soil
- tolerates low fertility
While chives will tolerate a wide range of soil conditions, they prefer
slightly acid soil (pH 6.2 to 6.8) with moderate fertility and high
organic matter.
Hardiness zones:
Chinese and garlic chives ( Allium tuberosum) are slightly less hardy, only to Zone 4 without extra winter protection.
Special locations:
- outdoor containers
- rock gardens
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Plant Traits
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Lifecycle:
perennial
Ease-of-care:
easy
Height:
0.5 to 1 feet
Chinese and garlic chives (Allium tuberosum) grow up to 2 feet tall.
Bloom time:
- late spring
- early summer
- late summer
- early fall
Flower color:
The
common garden chive has pinkish lavender flowers. The cultivar
‘Forescate’ has rose red flowers. 'Corsica" and 'albiflorum' have white
flowers. Chinese and garlic chives (Allium tuberosum) have white
flowers.
Foliage color:
medium green
Foliage texture:
fine
Shape:
- cushion, mound or clump
- upright
- grass-like
Spreading clump of upright, grass-like leaves.
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Special Considerations
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Special characteristics:
- deer resistant
- not native to North America
- Mediterranean origin
- evergreen
- In cold areas, dies back to the ground.
Special uses:
-
cut flowers
-
edible flowers
-
edible landscaping
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Growing Information
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How to plant:
Propagate by
seed,
division or separation
- Direct seed, divide or transplant in spring or fall.
Germination temperature: 45 F to 95 F
Days to emergence: 7 to 21
Seed can be saved 3 years.
Maintenance and care:
In spring or fall, direct seed onto well-prepared seedbed (covering
very lightly), or transplant established plants. (If starting from
seed, plants probably won’t be large enough to harvest for at least a
year.)Regular
cutting helps keep plants vigorous and healthy and encourages
spreading. Keep flowers picked to discourage dormancy in warm weather. No fertilizer is needed if planted in reasonably fertile soil. Plants harvested frequently benefit from nitrogen top-dressing. Divide and replant clump in fresh soil every three to five years.
More growing information: How to Grow Perennials
Pests:
Not usually harmed.
Diseases:
Not usually infected.
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Varieties
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Browse chive varieties at our Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners website.
The cultivar ‘Forescate’ has rose red flowers. 'Corsica' and 'albiflorum' have white flowers.
Garlic chives and Chinese chives both have garlic flavor, and belong to a different species, Allium tuberosum. They grow taller (up to 2 feet) than common garden chives, and have white flowers.
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