Sow or Plant a row of chives not only for their deliciously spicy green leaves, but also for their peppery edible flowers – gorgeous scattered over fresh summer salads.
They're also very easy to look after, growing in any free-drained soil in a sunny spot. All they need from you is a haircut in mid-summer, just after flowering, so they keep producing lots of that new tender growth that's so invaluable for the kitchen. Just take a pair of scissors and snip the whole lot off, leaves, spent flowers and all, about 5cm above soil level. Don't go lower than this or you'll cut into the growing crowns. Follow this treatment up by watering thoroughly using a liquid feed and top dressing with fresh compost to prompt them to burst into leaf again, ready for picking a few weeks later.
