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What kind of chives/-alliums?
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 4:48 pm
by Primrose
Can anybody identify these chives which we saw growing in the vegetable garden at RHS Wisley today.? We couldn,t see any ID label. They were different from the Chives growing in our garden in that the flower heads were much bigger (nearly 1.5 inches across) and the leaves were short, flat and stumpy whereas the leaves on the chive clumps in my garden are tall and tubular in shape.
The soil where they grow in our garden is poor and stoney whereas the RHS beds are obviously full of years of dug in compost but I don,t think this would account for the difference in flower/seed head size or shape and stumpiness of leaves which rather resembled blades of grass.
Re: What kind of chives/-alliums?
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:04 pm
by Monika
A kind of garlic chives? They have flat leaves but usually white flowers, but perhaps there is a pink form too.
Re: What kind of chives/-alliums?
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:29 pm
by Primrose
Yes, I. wondered that Monika as I have a small clump of garlic chives with flat leaves like that but mine have white flowers too.
I was rather tempted for a brief moment to pinch a seed head but my guilty conscience got the better of me !
Re: What kind of chives/-alliums?
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:33 pm
by Westi
Should have had a nibble Primrose! (Or maybe not if purely decorative)!
E-mail them & ask them. They are usually fastidious in labelling so doing them a favour as well by highlighting it. I thought garlic chives as well but the flowers are very purple, but perhaps there are varieties we don't know about!
Re: What kind of chives/-alliums?
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:59 pm
by robo
They do look a bit like our garlic chives but to be honest I've never looked at ours close up , the small bulb at the bottom of the stem tastes unbelievable you can taste it untill something else replaces it like a hand full of Pease or a very small courgette or a few French beans or a tomato or two ,this is a great time of year to peruse the plot
Re: What kind of chives/-alliums?
Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2017 11:17 am
by Primrose
I now have the answer to this question from RHS Wisley and details of where to obtain them. It seems that there are indeed pink flowering garlic plants.
"The allium you've spotted in the vegetable garden appears to be Allium Quattro.
http://www.hayloft-plants.co.uk/Allium/ ... d8776.htmlThe flowers were spectacularly larger than my "common" chives in the garden but at £12.50 a pot, I would expect them to be !!