Chives · Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
When to plant chives in Birmingham
Main outdoor window
21 Mar - 11 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
18 April
In Birmingham, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
20 May - 19 Jun
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Birmingham
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Start indoors
21 Feb - 14 Mar
Eight weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.
Sow direct
21 Mar - 11 Apr
Four weeks before your last frost.
Plant
21 Mar - 11 Apr
Four weeks before your last frost.
Harvest
20 May - 19 Jun
Chives through the year
Against the frost risk in Birmingham
Why these dates
Sow once and divide every third year. First-year plants are thin; the crop is properly established in year two.
Fully dormant-hardy to -25C. Emerges as soon as soil temperature passes about 5C, often weeks before the last frost.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Chives are timed from 8 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 4 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Birmingham.
Growing chives in Birmingham
When should I plant chives in Birmingham?
Aim for 21 Mar - 11 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 15 Apr - 6 May - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will chives be ready to harvest in Birmingham?
Expect to start picking around 20 May - 19 Jun, based on 60 to 90 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will chives tolerate?
Fully dormant-hardy to -25C. Emerges as soon as soil temperature passes about 5C, often weeks before the last frost.