Onion Chives? Not sure if Common Chives are referred to as Onion Chives but they could be I guess? I think the common chives taste like onion and of course are milder than the Garlic Chives. In my experience common chives were easy to germinate. I sowed them into round containers and planted each container out as a single clump. Garlic chives on the other hand had pretty sparse germination and they were really slow to grow the first year; I think maybe they might have only grown a few additional leaves by fall. They are quite a bit later to come up than Common chives I noticed too. The 2nd year (last summer) they each only had a few flowers a piece. This year I'm hoping for a much better show; the white flowers are stunning. I love the picture Lynda!! I too love the Common Chives in the garden. Nice full clumps can really put up a beautiful show of flowers!! I've only ever let one or two of them go to seed for harvesting for trades. I'm sure I'd have a ton of volunteers otherwise. The ones I use for harvesting I try to only allow them to flower just once in spring and use them for harvesting green chives the rest of the season. Otherwise the harvest contains more woody flower stems than good edible chives. So I walk around and pinch out forming flowering stems as I spot them. I harvest by cutting the entire plant back to about 3" from the ground. Cut into 2" sections and freeze on a flat tray and then quickly drop into ziplock freezer bags. So easy to dig up and divide into new smaller clumps too :)

Thrips can also cause that kind of damage. Aphids to my knowledge don't cause holes they just curl the leaves all up and make them sticky,ugly and wrinkled. You can also try mulching with cedar -bugs don't like cedar and its pretty cheap. Might be easier than trying to plant around the base Big plus the cedar will keep in the moisture when it gets hot. This post was edited by campv on Mon, Mar 24, 14 at 18:39

Hmmm...I'll have to think about this. The alliums are partially behind stachys - it would only be partially in front of them. I think my other group of drumstick alliums is behind sedum Autumn Joy - but definitely in the middle of the border, so already positioned to mainly see the blooms. At our old house, I had chives behind ladysmantle, which looked great the first year. The second year, the ladysmantle got too tall! I also realized the other open spot is next to dianthus on one side - that might be too similar for me, foliage-wise. I spent a couple hours in the garden this afternoon and all I moved were some baby centaurea montana! I keep getting more ideas! I did call Bluestone, and they are going to replace my one sedum AJ and a couple of geranium nimbus that didn't survive, so those holes I don't have to worry about, at least.

I started 3 basil pots from seeds. I accidentially knocked over one pot, snapping its 7 inch log basil plant close to the soil level. I shoved the stem into the soil and its been doing fine, almost as if it were never broken. Its even triggered branching too. I think in a few more weeks it will be ready to transplant outside. As to chives, mine are a winter growing type and die out in the heat of summer. Before they do, they send up a stiff stalk with a little ball of tiny bulbs and a few very small light pinkish flowers. After the flowers are gone the bulbils can be plucked off and crumbled between your fingers and thumb, and replanted. I do nothing but pluck these every summer (early) and they strat to show new greesn about mod October again, and grow just fine through the winter months in my Z6. A very unusual chive to say the least. The brownish tips usually dissappear after it starts to warm up in a few weeks, but if I want to get the harvest the greens, it needs to be done before they start to dry out and die about the middle to late June. The biggest ones measure a little over an eigth of an inch in diameter, a few can go to three sixteenths of an inch. The length is usually about a foot or a little more. I do get the seeds/tiny bulbs to form and can collect a few to send out if anyone wants some. The mature chive plants have a pea sized bulb in soil.