Sorie, there is a brief discussion in the conversation thread about garlic. This is Southern Exposure Seed Exchange's how to article. You can grow garlic pretty much anywhere in OK. You can plant grocery store garlic, organic is less likely to be treated to inhibit sprouting. But just the ones that have not had all the roots scraped off are fine. I got a variety to try at Cherry Street farmers market a couple of years ago. I ordered from SESE this year. I plant mine in mid October.

Sorie, I couldn't find ANY garlic at the Natural Grocers in Norman last night. It was weird. I'll check Sprouts when I pick up a horseradish root.

Literally, garlic grows in my garden like a weed. But... I LIKE it! I have a hardneck, which I brought up from Mexico, which produces lots of "seed balls." I don't think they're actually seeds. Anyway, I can plant them in the winter and get usable, albeit small heads and cloves by late June. They come up all over the garden! Yet, any garlic does well. I also love elephant garlic. It's crop is simply spectacular.

I agree with George. Garlic grows like a weed here. It does need moderately good drainage. If a person has very thick, dense, slow-draining clay, the garlic can struggle to survive in that sort of soil in very wet years. I grow it just fine in raised beds that are well-amended clay in the front garden and in sandy soil in the back garden. As for variety---garlic comes in a wide variety of flavors and you just have to experiment to find the ones you like. Starting with grocery store garlic is fine if you don't want to pay the online retailers' prices for seed garlic. Some stores (Whole Foods, Central Market, Sprouts, etc. and other natural grocers and ethnic markets) carry a wider variety of garlic in the produce section---not just the standard ones you'll see in standard grocery stores. A few stores will have seed garlic in little bags with the fall bulbs or even in January with the spring bulbs, but it tends to be the basic, mild-flavored white grocery store garlic like silverskin or California white.

Thanks.