It sounds to me like you have an artichoke type softneck that is 'reverting' to hardneck which is fairly common with some artichokes. Are the bulbils popping out of the stem just above the soil line or a couple inches above? The bulbils won't hurt anything and can be eaten or planted but in my experience it will cause some of the bulb wrappers to split open during the curing process.

Thanks Lone Jack. They are popping out above the soil line. a little bit up the stem.

And you are correct, it was an artichoke type soft neck. I remember distinctly because i had a ton of itsy bitsy cloves once i got to the middle that i was debating planting or not. (and i did plant them and they grew into smaller heads.)

Never knew about them being able to revert back to hard necks! Very neat and excited to see what i get.

Also, what do you mean about the bulb wrappers splitting open during the curing process? why would the bulbils make the bulb wrappers on the head/cloves below split open?

they look like this. it's hard from the bulbils down. and the bulbils popping like that is what caused them to bend over.

Thank you, this was extremely informative!! I would never have known where to start my search. And I bet you are right- it was supermarket garlic so possibly grown in a warm climate and I am in MA with a very brutal winter this year. I like these better than artichoke though. Larger cloves around the stem. no tiny ones to peel!

I grow what I like too.. I like my garlic with a strong flavor and hot, that holds it's own when I cook them.. Last year I had a Chinese softneck that had started to grow, what looked to be a tiny scape, but at the top looked like a long round chive-like leaf.. I didn't need to but I decided to grow the bulbils too. So I have little garlic plants growing in a small pot right now... I know my plants were stressed last year because I wasn't here to water them for two months..