What are Cloves, Bulbs and Bulbils?
The mature garlic plant produces a bulb, sometimes called a head of garlic, with numerous individual cloves inside the paper-like wrapper. An individual clove when planted will reproduce an entire bulb after about nine months. Some varieties of garlic also produce bulbils on top of their tall stalks (scapes). These are not true seeds, but can serve the same function. Bulbils are secondary cloves often produced in the flower cluster. What is Hardneck Garlic? Technically, it is allium sativum ophioscorodon, which some people call “ophios” because it’s a darn site easier to say. Unlike the softneck garlic grown commercially, especially in California, this garlic subspecies produces a hard, woody flower stalk. The flower (topset or umbel) often contains bulbils. Many varieties develop partial or full coils in the stalks (scapes). Some growers pop the top of their hardneck garlics, that is, they cut off the stalk in order to increase the size of the harvested bulbs. The results vary from va
