Onion chives vs. garlic chives? 2 very different flavors. If that is no issue for you then don't worry about which is which. Otherwise plant in different locations. Usually easy to tell which is which by the leaf. Garlic chives will have wider, flatter leaves, onion chives narrow and more like thin straws.

Dave

Regular onion chives would be flowering now depending on where you are (mine are nearly done and will produce seed soon) and the blooms are pink pompoms. Garlic chives have white umbel flowers in the fall. As Dave said, they are easy to tell apart by their leaves.

Rodney

Agree with previous posters; the flavors are much different. You can use both nearly all summer. As suggested, it would be best to plant them in different locations. If they are in the same place, though, I would suggest that you cut off the flowers for the garlic chives before they seed... or they will overrun the chives. In fact, I would recommend cutting off the flowers of garlic chives regardless of location.

Thanks so much--it's probably because I did NOT cut he flowers off that my garden is now bursting with garlic chives. I will look closely tomorrow to see if any of the leaves are really onion chives, which I'm not expecting because I never see the pink flowers. I will have to get some onion chive seed and plant in a different area. Thanks all!

When you cut off the flowers of the garlic chives, throw them in a salad, pasta sauce, on garlic bread, etc. They are quite scrumptious.

Mmmmmmmm.....Alll chives!

And like all alliums, both types are EXTREEMELY aggressive if allowed to seed.

Yeah, what laceyvail said. Garlic chives specialize in World Domination. If they can't take over the world they will take over all your planting beds, lawn and any cracks in your driveway pavement. But I can't make potato salad without them!

But they all smell great when you mow them. Makes for an enjoyable mowing exercise. :) Then they grow right back.

Dave

I'm growing both in large pots and I'm having a hard time keeping them healthy.. I had them in full sun but they didn't do so well... So I put them in part shade and they did better but they still look weak. Maybe, I need to thin them out or cut them down...

Especially in pots, both chives need food and division to thrive depending on how long they've been growing without repotting. They will be much thinner and floppier than in-ground, and don't tolerate as much sun as you seem to have found.

Ok thanks.. I do feed them but the bunches are pretty close together from when I grew them from seed... I've heard the stories and it's the main reason I grew them in pots. I'll divide and repot them when I get the chance..