Garlic chives are a clump-forming herb with flat, grass-like leaves that taste more like garlic than chives. In late summer to early fall, they send up tall stalks topped with loose clusters of small, white, star-shaped flowers that bees and butterflies visit. They reseed so readily that they have escaped from gardens in a number of states, mostly in the Midwest. They are also called Chinese chives.
Appearance
- Growth form
- Grows in clumps, with flower stalks about 10–24 in (25–60 cm) tall.
- Leaves
- Narrow, flat, and grass-like, about 1/16–5/16 in (1.5–8 mm) wide.
- Flowers
- Loose, rounded clusters 2–3 in (5–8 cm) across hold many small white, star-shaped flowers. They have a sweet scent.
Look-alikes
Wild garlic has hollow, tube-shaped leaves, while garlic chives have flat leaves. Its flower heads usually carry small bulblets mixed with pinkish-green flowers.
Why they get mixed upBoth are grassy-looking plants with a garlic smell that turn up in lawns and yards.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Vegetable and herb gardens
- Yards
- Disturbed ground
- Range
- Native to the steppes of northern China, Mongolia, and Siberia. In the US it is a common garden herb, and it has been found growing wild in scattered spots in states including Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Alabama, and Arkansas.
- Preferred conditions
- Hardy in USDA zones 3–9. It stays green through winter in warm areas and dies back to the ground in colder ones.
- Flowering
Flowers Aug–Sep
Flowers Aug–Sep
Growing it
- Care
- Easy to grow; dividing clumps about every 3 years keeps them vigorous. Cutting off the flower stalks after bloom keeps it from seeding around the garden.
- Propagation
- Spreads from seed, which it sets in large amounts, and by dividing clumps.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- It is a staple in East Asian cooking: in Chinese dumplings and stir-fries, Korean kimchi and savory pancakes, and Japanese miso soup and egg stir-fries. In China, pale yellow shoots grown in the dark are prized as a delicacy.
More species to explore
Record what you meet and build your own collection
Your photos are kept with their date and place, and you can fill regional albums one species at a time.