Chives are part of the Allium family, which also includes onions and garlic.
Chives are cool-season, cold-tolerant perennials that are planted in early spring. Chives grow about 12 inches tall and will spread about 12 inches across.
The Main Benefits Of Growing Chives:
1. Chives can act as a repellent to bad bugs while encouraging beneficial insects to come visit your garden.
2. Chives are a great companion plant. Plant near roses to repel black spot and to enhance growth. They are also said to repel Japanese beetles, a common pest of roses.
3. The purple blossoms attract pollinators and other insects like bees, butterflies, and beneficial wasps.
4. Chives can increase the length and flavor of carrots when planted close by. They repel aphids from celery, lettuce and peas. Tomatoes benefit as well.
5. You can mix chives and water in a blender with a little bit of dish soap for a repelling spray for most plants and to deter powdery mildew on veggies.
6. Chives have mild diuretic properties and are a wonderful way to detoxify the body. By stimulating urination chives can help get rid of excess toxins, salts, water and even fat.
7. Chives are nutrient-dense, low in calories but high in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. One tablespoon containing 3 grams of chopped chives is only 1 calorie and less than 1 gram of fat.
8. Chives contain choline. Choline is an important nutrient that helps with sleep, muscle movement, learning and memory.
9. Chives contain vitamin K, a nutrient that is important for the bones and helps maintain bone integrity and density.
10. Chives are perennial and have a long growing season.
Three Easy Ways To Grow Chives:
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- Purchase plants from your local nursery
- Divide an existing plant by physically separating a clump. Make sure you include bulbs and roots in each clump
- Grow from seed. Plant seeds 1/4 inch deep and final spacing should be 4-6 inches apart. It can take two years to grow to full size
Keep the soil moist. Chives grow best when watered frequently, as long as there is proper soil drainage.
Harvesting Chives:
Once the flowers start to die back, cut the entire plant down to 2-3 inches. This will encourage fresh growth.
Your plant will die back in winter, but the underground bulbs are still alive and will return in the spring.
It’s so nice to be able to go out on my patio and snip chives to add to food. I especially like to add chives to a salad or a baked potato.
I’ve always loved chives and grown them in my garden but still I didn’t know all these things about them! Like how really healthy they are. I think I’ll divide mine and spread them around my yard since they are so pretty when they bloom, too.
Thanks for the info, Brenda!
Amazing information. I had no idea. They were growing wild in Georgia where we were vacationing years ago….someone was mowing and the smell of the cut chives actually made me hungry!
I love chives and I had no idea they were so beautiful or that they’re perennials. I’m definitely going to try planting some.
I did not know all this, great little tidbits, Brenda! I just grow them because I love the flavor. Mine were just starting to come back when we got that whopper of a snow storm – they are still buried under 3+ feet of snow, I wonder how they are doing under there?
I have grown chives in a pot on my deck. Only problem, they grow so fast and don’t know if I should cut them down on in a while. Enjoy the mild flavor. Ours never flower. Are there different types. We had allium in our old home. Super facts.
Cindy
I like to pick some of the flowers at their peak and put them in the freezer in a baggie. Take a flower or two out anytime and pull apart so the florets can decorate a salad. The flavor is a little milder than the the stems.
Wow Brenda Who Knew??? Wow I think I am going to plant some chives this summer in my garden.
Happy Easter.
Kris
Above all, chives are yummy!
I use them like string to tie up little packets of cheese/egg/onion mix inside Swiss chard leaves. Recipe here: https://francetaste.wordpress.com/2017/02/17/pillows-of-swiss-chard-bliss
People on blood thinners should be careful eating chives. Jean