Chives

Meet chives, the herb that grows like a tuft of green hair and tastes like a mild onion. Snip it with kitchen scissors over eggs, potatoes, salads and dips, and the cut tips grow back.

Its character is steady. It does not bolt in a week or sulk if a day's watering is missed: it is a hardy, drought-tolerant perennial (Illinois Extension) that carries on year after year and slowly thickens into a larger clump.

What it brings, beyond leaf, is round pale-purple flower heads that are edible and attract bees (Wikipedia), and the pleasure of a plant you can divide and hand to a neighbour.

Chives are a perennial: plant them once and they keep growing season after season, as The National's herb guide puts it, and when the clump outgrows its space you divide it and repot. BBC Good Food Middle East lists chives for planting from October to March, in the same bracket as basil, parsley, coriander and mint.

Chives are a bulb-forming perennial about 25 cm tall with hollow, tubular leaves (Wikipedia). They prefer full sun and soil high in organic matter, and Illinois Extension calls them hardy and drought-tolerant; a desert nursery guide says they thrive in full to part sun. Cut the leaves about 2.5 cm above the soil: regular cutting keeps the leaf tender and encourages new growth, and frequently cut plants benefit from supplemental fertiliser (Illinois Extension).

Divide the clump every two to three years, with four to six bulbs in each piece (Illinois Extension recommends early spring; in Dubai, plan it for the cool months rather than summer). Dubai planting guides place chives in the cool season, and a desert nursery guide advises afternoon shade for many herbs through the hottest months, so keep a summer pot in shade and watered. Chives can self-sow if the flowers are left to fade, so cut them off first if you do not want seedlings. Try parsley and coriander in the next pot.