Trust Me On This - Plant Chives

and then just sit back and watch all the most amazing winged neighbors fly right into your own back yard!

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Do it. Plant chives. Plant them for a few really good reasons.

First of all, they’re delicious. I put them on everything.

And also, they are really dreamy light-catchers, in all sorts of stunning ways.

But mostly, plant chives because I don't know exactly what it is about chive blossoms, but every year they host the most fantastic gala of winged creatures, more than any other single variety of bloom on the farm or in the garden.

Seriously. Everyone comes.

All together, sharing blossoms, buzzing and fluttering and sipping in and amongst each other like posh celebrities rubbing wingtips at an open bar.

Butterflies like the Pink-edge Sulfur…

Peck’s Skipper…

and Tiger Swallowtail.

Bumblebees, and honeybees, and all other kinds of teeny bees, and things that look like bees but are actually flies, alongside several different types of actual flies.

And um, this guy? Who I think is a Green Metallic Sweat Bee, and let me just say, wow. As they say on the red carpet, who dressed you?

And then there’s the Hummingbird Clearwing Moth.

If you’ve ever wondered about the story of how the Hummingbird Clearwing Moth got its name, I imagine it went something like this.

I was sitting in the garden, minding my own business, when something that sounded exactly like a hummingbird zipped past my ear. Except when I looked over, I realized it was actually a moth, that also happened to look an awful lot like a hummingbird. Funny little mimic.

And then when I looked closer, I was like, “Are you kidding me, this moth has clear wings!?!”

After much careful mulling over word order and compound vs. hyphenated adjectives, the Hummingbird Clearwing Moth was named.

So, trust me on this. Plant the chives. Plant them anywhere you want, as many as you like. You’ll be so glad that you did, in ways that will never cease to amaze you!

p.s. Around this time last year, I spent a gorgeous afternoon with a Tiger Swallowtail. She was so entirely absorbed by the chive blossoms that she just forgot I was even there, and let me take dozens of photos of her from every angle. There are few feelings more satisfying than having a butterfly treat you like just another weed in the garden! 🤣