The navigation bar on the right shows the cultivars on the garlic varieties pages sorted into their major groupings. They include many heirloom and heritage garlics. The hardneck varieties are Porcelain, Rocambole, Purple Stripe, Marbled Purple Stripe and Glazed Purple Stripe. The Other Garlics includes weakly bolting hardnecks and some softnecks.

The garlics for sale beginning July 2, 2010 are in our four-page printable Main Catalogue.

Garlic beds in early May

Garlic originated in the wild in Central Asia and has more than 5000 years of history as an important horticultural crop. Since under normal circumstances garlic does not produce true seed, there is no cross fertilization of cultivated varieties. It is hard to say how many genetically different garlic clones there actually are under cultivation today. Garlic is extremely adaptable and after a few years in a particular locality it will take on a shape, size, colour and flavour characteristic of its new location. So it is difficult to tell when differences between garlic plants are environmental and when they are genetic.

Researchers are now working to restore the fertility of garlic. Dr. Rina Kamenetsky is one of these researchers and we are delighted to be able to feature her article True Seeds in Garlic on our website.

Variety is a term that is used loosely. Sometimes it is used colloquially to refer to each named cultivar and sometimes it is used technically to refer to the major groupings. Although the term is used both ways on this website, on this page it is being used to attempt botanically correct classification.

Hardneck and Softneck Garlic

True garlic (species: Allium sativum) has two subspecies, softneck (sativum) and hardneck (ophioscorodon – ophios for short). Allium sativum sativum has two varieties, Silverskin and Artichoke. Supermarket garlic is almost all Silverskin garlic from China or California. Silverskins can be planted mechanically and are good keepers. We do not grow Silverskins. We have a few Artichokes on the Other Garlics page. Our understanding of the structure of the garlic family tree is evolving as mapping the genes of the varieties and subvarieties continues. Previously there were thought to be five major groupings referred to as varieties. Hardnecks were classified as Porcelain, Rocambole and Purple Stripe (with the subvarieties Marbled Purple Stripe and Glazed Purple Stripe), and softnecks were classified as Artichokes (with the subvarieties Creole, Asiatic and Turban). Currently there are considered to be ten varieties, eight ophios and two softnecks. The ophios (Allium sativum ophioscorodon) include five true hardneck varieties (Porcelain, Rocambole, Purple Stripe, Marbled Purple Stripe and Glazed Purple Stripe) and three weakly bolting hardnecks that often produce softnecks (Creole, Asiatic and Turban). The hardneck varieties do well in the cooler Canadian climates. Hardneck refers to the scape, or flower stalk, with its topset of bulbils. Hardnecks take a little more care to grow because they need to be hand planted right side up, and to have their scapes snipped off. They repay that effort with a wealth of large bulbs and a dazzling choice of robust and subtle, intriguing and delicious flavours. This information has been gleaned from Bob Anderson’s overview of the garlic family tree. His article gives more information on the varieties of garlic and the ongoing research.

An Artichoke softneck garlic

A Purple Stripe hardneck garlic

Seed Garlic Varieties in 2010

Our climate and soil conditions are particularly well-suited to growing hardneck garlic. We also have some weakly bolting hardnecks and Artichokes. We have been trying out lots of varieties and cultivars to find out which ones thrive in cold Canadian winters and moderately hot summers. Many are heirloom or heritage garlics.

The strains of seed garlic that we have include Rocamboles (Puslinch, Baba Franchuk’s,German Red, Korean Purple, Puslinch, and Spanish Roja), Porcelains (Dan’s Russian, Fish Lake 3, Georgian Fire, Leningrad, Northern Québec, Susan Delafield, Ukrainian Mavniv and Yugoslavian Porcelain) and Purple Stripes (Chesnok Red, Persian Star); Marbled Purple Stripes (Czech Broadleaf, Northern Siberian); Glazed Purple Stripes (Red Rezan); Asiatics (Asian Tempest); Turbans (Chinese Purple, Wildfire); other weak bolting hardnecks (Sweet Haven, Thai, Tibetan), and Artichokes (Inchelium Red, Sicilian Gold).

About Size

As a policy we do not push our varieties to produce the largest bulbs they are capable of. We use water and organic fertilizers in moderation. The resulting garlic has a longer storage life and is in better shape for adapting itself to your growing conditions.

Garlic Bulbils

If left on the plant to mature the topset or scape of a hardneck garlic will produce a number of bulbils which can be planted. This is a way of rapidly increasing your garlic planting stock. For details see our Garlic Bulbils page. We have bulbil capsules from a number of strains available for planting this fall. If you are interested please contact us.

Printable Catalogues

 

The garlics for sale beginning July 2, 2010 are listed in our four-page printable Main Catalogue.

Descriptions of the varieties and ordering information are here on these web pages. We try to keep the web pages up to date with information on the availability of different varieties. The Collectors Catalogue will be online in mid to late August, after we have assessed the 2010 harvest.