I thought hard neck garlic was the only kind of garlic for zone 5 to 4. A friend is also growing soft neck successfully. In our area, garlic has been harvested and I've seen at least one sign of garlic for sale. That's how I got started. I bought some garlic that had been grown locally. You might try a local farmers market. I'll use most of my harvest for cooking but will save some out to plant in October here in NH. Hard neck garlic also has wonderful garlic scapes in the late spring.

Yes, many varieties of hard neck will give you a good crop. I grow Siberian mostly. And now you can go look for it in farmer markets. It is perhaps the easiest crop: plant September-November, fertilize in February, pick all scapes in June, harvest in late July.

Great idea, defrost, about buying some locally at a farmer's market. I use local heirloom garlic that I got from friends growing it nearby. In this crazy garden year, it has been my most successful crop.

I just bought some at a local farmer's market. She wouldn't tell me what variety it was "because then everyone would grow it.". Well, lady, I'm going to save 2 heads to plant in the fall. So there.

You could look at the Jungs catalogue if you want specific varieties, since they're based in WI.

I'm outside Chicago and grow both hard neck and soft neck . I looked at our extension office to see what might grow well. Hard neck grew the biggest -- I grew Kilarney red and Music pink for hard neck. Soft neck were inchellium red and S&H silver.

Greif, you should be able to grow both hardneck & softneck garlics. I garden in Winnebago County, and have grown both successfully for many years.

All of the varieties offered by Seed Savers Exchange (in Iowa) and We Grow Garlic (located in Wisconsin) will grow here, as well as most of the garlic varieties offered elsewhere.

Of the types of garlics, I have had the best results with Porcelain and Rocambole (hardnecks) and Artichoke (softneck). You can find out more about these types at the Filaree Farm website. They sell many varieties of garlic also, but I would recommend using the sources in the Midwest unless they are sold out.

You can find extensive information on specific garlic varieties here (you might want to bookmark this one).

I should point out that Elephant Garlic has been unreliable here. Despite its appearance, it is not a true garlic, and is not as winter hardy. Some years the crop would be great, others there would be severe winter kill. After several years where I barely replaced what I planted, I stopped growing it.

I grew Lorz Italian when I lived in Nashville and it was the easiest, effortless crop I grew, a sure success and pest free both years I grew it there. I took my tried-and-true stock with me when I moved to Z5 northern indiana and none of the garlic got bigger than a quarter-sized dinky bulb.

Is that because it is a softneck? I was getting ready to blame something about my soil. The garlics sold online dont list a hardiness zone, so I never knew that softnecks didnt grow well in cold climates. I always assumed it would either die or thrive.

So do I need to load up on some hardneck varieties?

http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=855(OG)