chives

                

            Chives are perpetual greens. I have 3 varieties: local chives (Chinese chives), broad leaves chives (it is what i call it) and western chives chives ( allium schoenprosum). They provide me with a yearlong greens regardless of the weather and its flower provide nectar for my stingless bees.

Local chives have dark green flat leaves, strong smell, and white flower. Broad leaves chives is lighter in colour, flat leaves which is broader, mild smell and bigger white flower. Western chives have leaves like spring onion but has purple flower. It has milder smell. It was gifted to me from a dear friends, i think she brought it back from UK

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chinese chives

broad leaves chives

allium schoenoro

Lonely no more

This is the only chives that germinate out of few hundred seeds. Its growth is very slow. After almost a year finally it has another shoot. Gardening is good for the soul. It teaches us to appreciate diversity and beauty in God's creation, patient and last but not least the rewards for those who is diligent and dare to try.

3 months ago, lonely chives

now i've company

Tenacity and patience required!

I love growing herbs even though i do not use it frequently. But growing herbs/plant that originates from temperate region is very trying. 

               

Greek oregano 5 months from sowing

Greek Oregano

It took so long to germinate, almost one month. The seeds are very small hence the newly germinated seedling is barely visible, not to mention at first leaf stage it look like  weeds. But to top it all, the germination rate is very low. I sow half of seed packet (hundreds of seeds) and only 5 germinate. Only 1 out of 5 seedlings make it, the other 4 died of drowning (my sis watering the minute size seedlings instead of misting it lightly) and powdery mildew. But looking at this sole survivor, make all my effort worthwhile. I’ll propagate the rest from cutting.

Fernleaf dill, 3 months from sowing

Germination rate is also very poor but definitely better than oregano at almost 50%. Dill is very hardy; once it germinates it is not easily killed. But i have other problem; house sparrow will pull it out to build its nest (i use wire mesh to save this one's life). So i only left with an only seedling that is still growing. I do not know whether dill like to be under full sun or shade. The information that i get in the internet are all about growing Mediterranean herbs/plants in temperate country not in blazing hot tropic!  So i keep moving it from one spot to another until i saw it was perking up since last 2 weeks. Finally i knew 2 hours of morning sun is all it needs to maintain its vigour in the tropic.
                                 

                                  

Chives

This one takes a trophy for poor germination. First 50 seeds that i bought from Kebun Bahagia Bersama never germinate.  Another packet was bought from USA, i sow 150 seeds, and only one germinates. 

 

So, for those who want to grow temperate herbs in the tropics, other than seed you need a patient of a saint and a tenacity of bulldog.