Allium schoenoprasum L.
Chives
Chives is the familiar kitchen herb, but it is also a genuine British native, growing wild on thin soils over limestone, serpentine and other base-rich rocks, on cliff ledges and rocky outcrops, and occasionally in damp riverside crevices. Native populations are scattered and local, in parts of Cornwall, Wales and northern Britain, while plants found on verges, walls and waste ground are usually garden escapes.
About
Chives is the familiar kitchen herb, but it is also a genuine British native, growing wild on thin soils over limestone, serpentine and other base-rich rocks, on cliff ledges and rocky outcrops, and occasionally in damp riverside crevices. Native populations are scattered and local, in parts of Cornwall, Wales and northern Britain, while plants found on verges, walls and waste ground are usually garden escapes. It is a clump-forming, bulbous perennial with hollow, cylindrical, onion-scented leaves and rounded heads of pink to pale purple flowers.
Flowering falls mainly in June and July, and the nectar-rich pompon flowerheads are very attractive to bees and other pollinating insects. Easy and undemanding in sun and free-draining soil, chives earns a place in herb gardens, borders and pollinator plantings alike, where it combines culinary use with reliable early-summer colour. The leaves carry a mild onion flavour and the flowers, too, are edible.
Also known as
Giant Garlic · Wild Chives
Synonyms
Allium acutum · Allium alpinum · Allium broteri · Allium broteroi · Allium buhseanum · Allium carneum · Allium coloratum · Allium foliosum · Allium glaucum
Beta — under active development. This catalogue is still being built and accuracy-checked. The information here (including plant identifications, British native status, soil and sun/shade preferences) is provided in good faith for general guidance only and may contain errors or omissions. It must not be relied upon on its own — please confirm details with us before making planting, specification, foraging or purchasing decisions, and never eat or medicinally use any plant based on this catalogue alone, as some species are toxic. To the extent permitted by law, Phoenix Amenity Supplies accepts no liability for any loss arising from use of this information.