Garlic Is For Lovers

🧄 Going for Garlic: A Central Texas Guide to Planting, Growing, and Loving the Stinking Rose

If you’re like me, your inbox is blowing up with nurseries wanting you to order your garlic for this fall/winter. In the past I never ordered garlic. I didn’t start with a catalog or a spreadsheet. I started with a grocery store bulb—organic, humble, and full of promise. I planted it, albeit a little late, because I wanted garlic. Not a perfect variety. Just garlic. And honestly? That’s a great place to begin.

🌱 Why Garlic Works in Central Texas

Garlic is a fall-planted crop that thrives in our (mostly) mild winters and rewards us with pungent bulbs by late spring. It’s resilient, beautiful, and surprisingly ornamental. (Although I cut off the bloom to eat and so that the plant is more focused on producing big bulbs than worrying about flowers) But, do tuck it among your perennials or anywhere you have some space in full sun and watch its strappy leaves add texture to your winter beds.

• Best planting time: Halloween if temps are cool through early December. In years past I would have said mid-October, but it’s been fairly warm the last few years and I am content to wait for the cold.

• Sunlight: Full sun preferred. Remember your deciduous trees will drop their leaves, changing the sunlight on your beds.

• Soil: Well-drained, compost-rich

• Watering: About 1" per week, this includes the rain we get in the fall.

• Harvest: Late April to May, when leaves brown halfway up

🧄 Softneck vs. Hardneck: What’s the Difference?

If you’re ready to go beyond grocery-store garlic, here’s a breakdown:

Just a quick look at the differences between Softneck and Hardneck Garlics.

Softneck varieties like Inchelium Red or California Early tend to do well here. But some Central Texas gardeners swear by adaptable hardnecks like Chesnok Red or Music, especially in microclimates with cooler pockets. I will tend to stick with softneck varieties unless I get wind of a hardneck that has been successful for a few years.

📚 What Locals Love

I’m checking books and chatting with my gardener buddies to learn which varieties sing in our soil. If you’ve got a favorite—whether it’s spicy, mellow, or just plain reliable—drop me a note. Garlic lore (and recipes!) are best when shared.