Planting guide

When to plant chives

Mild oniony snips for eggs, potatoes and salads; a tough perennial clump. In Melbourne it goes in Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov.

Start as: Seed, sown in place or Seedling
Ready in: 9–13 wks
Spacing: 20 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means chives can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Melbourne	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Brisbane	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Perth	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Adelaide	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Gold Coast	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Newcastle	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Sunshine Coast	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Canberra	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Central Coast	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Geelong	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Wollongong	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Hobart	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Townsville	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mandurah	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Bendigo	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Launceston	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mackay	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Rockhampton	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Blue Mountains	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bunbury	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Bundaberg	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	○	○
Alice Springs	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Mildura	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Port Macquarie	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Wellington	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Christchurch	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
London	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Chicago	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
Austin	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Toronto	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Johannesburg	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Singapore	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant chives

Sow seed 0.5 cm deep, or plant a divided clump.
Keep moist and water in dry spells.
Snip leaves 5 cm above the soil.
Divide the clump every 3 years.

Chives varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Common Chives Classicheirloom · cold-hardy · pot-friendly · 9–13 wksFine hollow leaves with pretty pink pom-pom flowers
Staro Classicpot-friendly · 9–13 wksThick, upright leaves with a strong flavour
Fine Leaf Classicmild · pot-friendly · 9–13 wksSlim, tender leaves with a mild flavour