Today’s Flowers #95 – chives and rosemary

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) have pretty flowers but their scent may not be as attractive as that of other flowers!

Chives are the smallest members of the onion family and the only one native to both the Old and the New World. I use it in salads amd stir-fried vegetable dishes. It is thought to be an insect-repellent, though the flowers are immensely attractive to bees, and it has been cultivated for around 5000 years.The Romans believed chives could relieve sunburn and sore throats and that it would act as a diuretic.

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)is native to the Mediterranean region. The Latin name rosmarinus means 'dew' (ros) and 'sea' (marinus) meaning 'dew of the sea' because it is often found growing near the sea. There's no salt water anywhere near our garden (nothwithstanding we live on a relatively small island!) but it grows well here. I don't often use the leaves fom this evergreen herb but maybe I should since I've just discovered it is extremely high in iron, calcium and vitamin B6.Perhaps I'll steep the leaves in boiling water to make a tisane! It has many culinary uses which you can read about here.
Many thanks to the  Today's Flowers team for their dedication to this lovely weekly meme. To see more blooms - and perhaps join in - please click here.