Best time to plant chives in Australia
Allium schoenoprasum
Also called onion chives
The smallest kitchen onion relative, chives form dense clumps of slender bulbs and hollow, grass-like leaves about 25 cm tall. Both leaves and the pale purple, star-shaped flowers can be eaten. They come back each year, and cooks snip them fresh over all kinds of food.
On a shared plot: stays for years
Holds its spot for years. Check your garden's rules and how long your plot licence runs.
When to sow
| Zone | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CoolNot yet checked against a local guide | Sow | Sow | Sow | No | No | No | No | No | No | Sow | Sow | Sow |
| TemperateNot yet checked against a local guide | Sow | Sow | Sow | No | No | No | No | No | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow |
| SubtropicalNot yet checked against a local guide | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow |
| TropicalNot yet checked against a local guide | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow |
| AridNot yet checked against a local guide | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow | No | No | No | No | Sow | Sow | Sow | Sow |
Good months to sow
Your local conditions can shift any months shown here, so treat them as a guide.
Growing details
- How to start
- Raise seedlings, then transplant
- Sowing depth
- 8mm
- Plant spacing
- 10cm
- Row spacing
- 20cm
- Height
- 50cm
- Time to harvest
- 60-90 days
- Frost
- Hardy, takes a light frost
- Sun
- Full sun
- Life cycle
- perennial
These are typical figures, and varieties differ. Your seed packet takes priority.