Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)

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Botanical name: Allium schoenoprasum • Bloom season: Late spring to early summer • Bloom color: Lavender-pink • Pollinator value: Early-season nectar for small bees

Fine hollow leaves in a tidy clump, topped in late spring by lavender-pink globes. Most people grow it for the kitchen and cut it before it flowers. Let it bloom, and it becomes one of the first reliable nectar sources of the year while the rest of the herb bed is still waking up.

Photo credit: Ashley @Sage.and.Summit

Botanical name: Allium schoenoprasum • Bloom season: Late spring to early summer • Bloom color: Lavender-pink • Pollinator value: Early-season nectar for small bees

Fine hollow leaves in a tidy clump, topped in late spring by lavender-pink globes. Most people grow it for the kitchen and cut it before it flowers. Let it bloom, and it becomes one of the first reliable nectar sources of the year while the rest of the herb bed is still waking up.

Photo credit: Ashley @Sage.and.Summit

Size:

Plant Characteristics

Botanical Name: Allium schoenoprasum

Common Name: Chives

Sun: Full Sun to Part Sun

Water: Moderate

Bloom Time: Late spring to early summer

Bloom Color: Lavender-pink

Pollinators: Bees; Butterflies

Deer Resistant: Yes

Mature Size: W 10"-12" x H 10"-14"

Soil: Well-drained; average garden soil

Pollinator Value: Early-season nectar for small bees

Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial

USDA Zones: 3 to 9

Spread Habit: Clumping; self-sows

Available As: Live plant

Growing Notes

Full sun to part sun in ordinary garden soil, with moderate. Space about 10 inches apart. It is one of the earliest plants to emerge in spring, making it useful at the front of a bed where bare ground would otherwise show.

  • Water: Moderate

  • Sun: Full Sun to Part Sun

  • Soil: Well-drained; average garden soil

  • Mature size: W 10"-12" x H 10"-14"

Maintenance

Cut back to a few inches after flowering for a fresh flush of leaves. Deadhead if you would rather not have seedlings, since it readily self-seeds. Divide every three years or so when the clump gets crowded and the leaves thin out. It dies back completely in winter and returns reliably.