Brandysmbj,
Many places will ship softneck varieties in the spring and fall. But only ship hardneck varieties in the fall. It looks like that is what Gurney's does. The idea of planting in the fall is you get root growth which is beneficial in the spring. I have planted softneck varieties in the fall, mid winter and early spring. The later you plant the smaller your bulbs and cloves will be as a general rule of thumb. But you will still should get nice bulbs.Always better to plant later though rather than not at all. Jay

Um,...this past fall I bought my garlic at Walmart. This year it was elephant garlic and also a pretty little white and pink garlic which I have no idea the variety. I'm not real knowledgeable concerning my different garlics, so I'm not even sure whether it was soft neck or hard neck. I got a lot though, and have a couple hundred garlic plants growing. They sell pretty good at the market. Over the past few years I've had good luck planting grocery store bought garlic. I'll pay a high price for seed for certain varieties of vegetables, but I don't see the point for garlic. If I've got this wrong, please someone write and set me straight. I'm always willing to learn.