Blooming Chives

Chives are one of my favorite plants to grow. Besides being yummy on baked potatoes, they are easy to grow, and the purple blooms, so simplistic and beautiful, add a certain level of interest to my garden. Sadly, I haven't always appreciated chives, and all they offer.
When I first began gardening, I consentrated mostly on the houseplants I used to decorate my front porch. I only had an ivy, a chinese evergreen, and a corn cane plant, given to me by supportive friends after I lost my mom. I loved the the way they looked so much, that I began to garden in the front yard. I already had a climbing rosebush, and a hydrangea planted by the previous owner of the house. I weeded them, and pruned them back, enjoying the fresh air and smell of dirt so much, that I decided to start a garden. My sister had told me all about chives and thier many uses, but that first year I was working the front yard, where I didn't have enough sun for chives, or any other herb. It wasn't until I moved on to the side of the house that I planted my first herbs. Sadly, that didn't work. I love our old house with all my heart, but I admit there are some drawbacks. I discovered the hard way, that because of the lack of gutters, rain runs off the roof like a flood, right into that side garden (the reason for the potted garden I have there today). This abundance of water killed my chives and every other herb I had planted there. Once again, I gave up on herbs.
Then a great thing happened. In 2007, We remodeled the house, adding a screened porch. Nobody wants to sit outside and look at an ugly backyard, so I began a potted garden. I also discovered I had sun. Not full sun, because of the pecan tree, but enough to make me feel less limited in what I can grow. The first photo showes my first chive bloom of the year. It and a purple sage plant were the only perinnials in a pot full of annual herbs. When the annuals died out, the chives took over, leaving just enough sage to make it interesting. I liked the way they looked, but it wasn't until the spring of the next year that I saw my first bloom. A round, soft looking purple flower atop a long green scape. Nothing spectacular, but for some reason I fell in love with it. I decided to plant my annuals in onother pot, and let the chives have this one.

It was when I was planting my potted rose garden in front of the shed (the only full sun area of my yard), that I remembered some of the things my sister had told me about chives. They draw butterflies and hummingbirds, and when planted around a rosebush, they discouraged aphids. I went out and bought enough chives to plant in the pots with my roses, and I can honestly say I don't have an aphid problem with these particular roses. And just look at the amount of buds on the chives. It looks like I have an explosion of purple blooms to look forward to. I can hardly wait!