A cold-hardy bulbing garlic that produces a stiff central stalk, complex layered flavor, and a curling flower stalk called a scape that is itself edible.
Allium sativum var. ophioscorodon · also called rocambole garlic, serpent garlic
4–6 weeks before the ground freezes, typically mid-September to mid-November.
As soon as soil can be worked, 4–6 weeks before last frost — yields smaller bulbs.
Hardneck varieties offer a wider range of flavor complexity than most supermarket softneck types, and the scape harvest in early summer gives a second crop from the same plant. Home-grown bulbs also store for months without the chemical sprout-inhibitors used commercially.
A little history. Hardneck garlic produces a true flowering stalk (the scape) that curls before straightening; most cloves are sterile and propagation is vegetative. Originates from wild garlic populations in Central Asia, per Fritsch & Friesen (2002).
Sow seeds 2 inches (51 mm) deep, and aim for 6 inches (15 cm) between plants once thinned. Plant cloves pointed end up, 2 inches deep. Keep soil moist but not waterlogged until shoots emerge; mulch immediately after planting to retain moisture. Seedlings emerge in 7–21 days.
Water deeply once or twice a week from spring green-up through early June; stop watering when lower leaves begin to yellow. Water when the top 2 inches of soil feel dry during active growth; reduce sharply once half the leaves have yellowed. Aim for about 1 inch per week including rain during bulbing.
Side-dress (scatter fertilizer along the row and water in) once in early spring as shoots emerge, then again 6 weeks later. What to use: balanced nitrogen-forward fertilizer such as blood meal or 10–10-10 organic; avoid high nitrogen after June or bulbs stay soft.
Remove the scape (the curling flower stalk) when it has completed one full curl but before it straightens; cutting it redirects the plant's energy into bulb development and the scape is edible.
It's ready when harvest when roughly half the leaves (counted from the bottom) have yellowed and dried, but at least 5–6 green leaves remain — each green leaf corresponds to a wrapper layer on the bulb. Loosen soil with a fork 4–6 inches from the plant before lifting to avoid slicing bulbs; pull gently by the stem, shake off loose soil, and do not remove outer wrappers in the field.
Cure in a single layer in a shaded, dry spot with good airflow for 3–4 weeks until necks are papery. Store at 50–60 °F (10–16 °C) with low humidity; hardneck types keep 4–6 months.
Fall-planted cloves overwinter in the ground under 3–4 inches of straw or shredded leaf mulch applied after the first hard frost; remove mulch gradually in early spring as shoots emerge.
Tomato
Garlic's sulfur-heavy leaves can help cover the scent trail that aphids and mites follow to tomato foliage, and its narrow upright column takes almost no room between staked plants. Expect a modest effect under light pest pressure, not a replacement for scouting.
Carrot
Interplanting the onion family with carrots often reduces how easily carrot rust fly and the flies that hunt alliums locate either crop, since each strong smell muddles the other. Results vary with how densely the rows are mixed, so treat it as a bonus rather than the whole defense.
Beet
Garlic runs a narrow column of fine roots straight down while beets swell in the loosened soil beside them, so the two share a bed without fighting over water. Garlic also comes out in midsummer, opening space just as beets size up.
Chamomile
Chamomile's small open flowers feed hoverflies, lacewings and tiny parasitic wasps, whose larvae work over the thrips that silver garlic leaves. Let a few plants bloom at the end of the row rather than crowding the bulbs.
Rose
Gardeners have long ringed rose bushes with garlic in the belief that its scent keeps aphids off the buds. The practice is harmless and garlic accepts the light shade at a rose's feet, but no controlled trial supports the claim.
Green Bean
Old companion charts have kept beans away from the onion family for a century, saying garlic checks their growth. No trial has demonstrated it. If you separate them, do so out of tradition — and note that beans are better used as the crop that follows garlic than as its neighbour.
Garden Pea
Peas are said to sulk beside garlic, a pairing the old charts repeat without any mechanism ever being shown. Nothing is lost by giving them separate beds, and peas make an excellent next-season crop in ground the garlic has just left.
Asparagus
Old charts warn against tucking the onion family into an asparagus bed. Nothing has been demonstrated, but there is a practical reason to keep them apart: lifting garlic every summer means digging through ground where asparagus crowns are spreading.
Give the onion family 4 years away from this spot before any of its relatives return.
The pea and bean family, the squash family or the beet family thrive in this ground next season.
Garlic is a moderate feeder that leaves loose, weed-free soil and very little residue. Keep every onion-family crop out of this bed for 4 years — white rot and basal rot survive a long time in soil. Follow with legumes such as beans or peas, then squash family crops, or beets and chard.
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