Allium schoenoprasum ‘Snowcap’ – Chives

This common plant in herb gardens has a circumboreal distribution – it’s native to northern parts of Europe, Asia and North America. In New York, chives has a scattered distribution – it’s occasionally a garden escapee – native plants occur primarily in northern parts of the state on rocky ledges and shores adjacent to rivers. It also can be found in “alvars” in northwestern New York near Lake Ontario – an alvar is a limestone plain with thin or no soil and, as a result, sparse grassland vegetation. Often flooded in the spring, and affected by drought in midsummer, alvars support a distinctive group of prairie-like plants. Chives is a nice ornamental as well as an edible plant – usually it has pink flowers – in this variety the flowers are white.