Chives occupy a rare position in the garden: equally at home in a terracotta pot on a kitchen windowsill and massed along a sunny border, where their upright rush-like foliage and one-inch purple flower heads make a surprisingly refined statement. Native across the entire temperate northern hemisphere, from the meadows of Europe to the mountain slopes of Japan, this species has been harvested and cultivated for millennia, its name drawn from the Greek for rush-like leek.

In the garden it behaves with admirable good manners, forming tidy clumps that never overwhelm their neighbours. Cut the hollow leaves from the base and new growth follows promptly; leave a few heads to flower in spring and the bees will reward you with their presence. Chives carry a notably high nectar volume, making them one of the more productive pollinator plants at this modest scale. Divide clumps in spring or autumn, deadhead if self-seeding is unwelcome, and give them a reasonable, well-drained soil in a position that sees genuine sun for at least part of the day. Zones 4 to 8.