Its not the cold dormancy that is the issue, the garlic needs more time under soil to form the cloved bulb and its necessary roots. Fall planting is usually the only way that can be done. Even though some garlic types (soft neck) seem to grow in northern climates (Z6) they usually are not as hardy as the hard neck types which send up a stiff stalk called a scape, that is removed. Form planting to harvest, garlic needs about 8-9 months of growth. Store bought garlic is usually soft neck, and not really suitable for starting a new planting. If you look at most companies that sell garlic for growing, they are usually sold out by now, which indicates that the planting season has long past. Here, I like planting the Musik type, as they have a few very large cloves, compared to some others that have smaller cloves.

Here is a link that might be useful: Check out Alium forum

You can buy some nice organic garlic, preferably hardneck, in spring and plant it out to get garlic greens, which can be chopped into salads or stirfries like scallions.

Buy some good seed garlic for fall planting to get bulbs in August of next year.

Thanks for the information. I will make sure to plan for next fall and try not to forget!

Alexa

Suggest that you find some good sources for garlic and place your order by July of this year. They usually will ship at the right planting time. By the end of August, most places are sold out of garlic for planting.

I live in Z3 and plant garlic both in spring and fall. My fall planted crop is ready by July but doesn't keep as well in winter storage as the spring planted, which matures later.

Carol