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Garlic chive talkin’
MAT COWARD declares this plant to be one that ‘everyone should grow’
Garlic chives on a plate
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MY GARLIC chives look their best in early autumn, with their white, starburst flowers held on long, stiff stems, high above the foliage.
It’s no wonder some people grow them purely as ornamentals. The hoverflies and bees which have flocked to them for the last few weeks are disappearing now, and the plant itself will soon start fading away for the winter. But it’ll be back early next spring; this is a long-lived and reliable perennial.
Allium tuberosum is called garlic chives because it grows just like chives, and has a mild, garlicky flavour. You’ll also see it listed as Chinese chives; in much of east Asia it’s grown as a serious vegetable, not merely a garnish or flavouring herb, which is how we tend to employ it over here.
A quick rummage with a search engine will reveal an astonishing number and variety of recipes from that part of the world involving garlic chives.
Equally inspiring is the versatility of the plant in Chinese, and neighbouring, cuisines. Leaves, served green or blanched yellow, flowers, buds and stems are all used.
The leaves are solid and strap-like, rather than the hollow tubes of ordinary chives and onions. Garlic chives form clumps which spread slowly over the years via underground rhizomes.
It also produces seed freely, which germinates readily even without human help. When clumps get too big, or overcrowded, or simply when you want to make new ones, they can easily be divided with a spade, either in autumn or early spring.
You can buy young plants in spring, online or sometimes from garden centres, but the cheapest way to get started, as usual, is with a packet of seeds.
The best time to sow is late spring or early summer, so there’s no need for artificial heat. Sow 10 or so seeds in a four inch (10cm) pot on a sunny windowsill.
Stand the pot outside once all risk of frost has passed, and a few weeks later, when the seedlings are about four inches (10cm) tall, knock the rootball out of the pot and plant it out as one lot.
Rich ground and full sun are best for garlic chives, though they will tolerate a wide range of soils and a fair amount of shade. Before planting, dig some compost or manure into the earth so they start off well. This vegetable also does superbly in pots and other containers. The bigger the pot — in width and in depth — the better, though again garlic chives will manage in less than ideal circumstances.
Keep the plants well watered, especially if they are growing in containers, and in summer you might want to give them the occasional liquid feed with comfrey or seaweed. They do need weeding, especially when young, but mulching them with compost every spring will reduce that chore. I’ve never seen garlic chives attacked by slugs, snails or birds.
Low-maintenance, highly useful, lovely to look at — this is a plant everyone should grow.
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