THE CHINESE HERB GARDEN - Growing Chinese Vegetables in Your Own Backyard - page 129

Because garlic chives tolerate less-than-ideal soil and moisture conditions, they
make excellent plants for the rock garden, nestling into out-of-the-way corners and
sending up their lovely blooms right on schedule every year. They're among the most
ornamental choices for an herb garden. The flowers are so attractive you can tuck them
into flower beds; the plants are more compact and less sprawly than common chives.
Appearance
Garlic or Chinese chives can always be recognized by their broad flat leaves, unlike the
smaller rounded stems of common chives. The star-shaped flowers are usually white
and arrayed in a dome rather than a sphere. Some flowers are lavender but larger than
those of common chives.
How to Grow
Getting started. Indoors, garlic chives can be planted anytime you please. Or buy a
plant from an herb nursery. Once you have a clump going, you'll have a permanent sup-
ply and will soon be handing pots around to happy neighbors. Chives are unfussy and
prolific, and that combination is hard to beat.
Planting. Garlic chives germinate just as slowly as common chives, so if you start from
seeds, patiently keep the soil moist until the tiny shoots are well on their way. You can
start seeds indoors or out; sow about ½ inch deep. Once the seedlings are about two
weeks old, let the soil dry out somewhat between waterings; from then on treat them as
you do common chives.
Growing needs. Garlic chives transplant easily and settle quickly into a new location.
For large plantings, set month-old transplants 12 to 14 inches apart in rows about 20
inches apart.
Garlic chives aren't fussy and thrive in almost any soil, rich or coarse and gravelly.
They prefer full sun but tolerate partial shade. Fertilize lightly after harvest; otherwise,
an annual side-dressing of compost will keep them growing well.
You can dig up and divide clumps that have grown too large for their site in either
spring or fall. Separate and pot up a clump in early fall and grow it in your kitchen all
winter. The plants you leave outdoors will die back during the winter and come up again
in the spring.