Plant Library

Other Names:  Allium Hybrid, Flowering Onion

Brand:  Proven Winners

Description:

A unique, highly ornamental and edible selection, ideal for window boxes, patio containers or herb gardens; a flat-leaf garlic chive with a soft onion-garlic flavor; plentiful lavender flowers in summer are edible; excellent heat and humidity tolerance

Edible Qualities

AlliYUM!™ Garlic Chives is a perennial herb that is commonly grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. The grassy bluish-green leaves can be harvested at any time in the season. The leaves have a zesty taste with a crisp texture and a pleasant fragrance.

The leaves are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Eating When Cooked/Prepared
• Cooking
• Drying
• Seasoning

Features & Attributes

AlliYUM!™ Garlic Chives has masses of beautiful clusters of lightly-scented lavender star-shaped flowers at the ends of the stems from early to mid summer, which are most effective when planted in groupings. Its grassy leaves remain bluish-green in color throughout the season.

This is an herbaceous perennial herb with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage. This is a high maintenance plant that will require regular care and upkeep, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Spreading
• Self-Seeding

Aside from its primary use as an edible, AlliYUM!™ Garlic Chives is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Herb Gardens
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

AlliYUM!™ Garlic Chives will grow to be about 10 inches tall at maturity extending to 16 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 18 inches. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 8 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant is quite ornamental as well as edible, and is as much at home in a landscape or flower garden as it is in a designated herb garden. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

AlliYUM!™ Garlic Chives is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.