Gourmet Garlic: Hardneck vs Softneck Garlic

Gourmet garlic can be roughly separated into two categories: hardneck and softneck. This post discusses some of the differences between them.

Reader Contribution by Andrea Cross
Updated on September 13, 2024
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by Adobestock/volff
Garlic bulb and garlic cloves on the wooden table in the garden.

Explore the differences between hardneck vs softneck garlic and the different garlic types and how they are classified.

When perusing the gourmet garlic at your local Farmers Market you may notice that the bulbs, although often bearing a cultivar name such as ‘Music’ or ‘Inchelium Red,’ tend to be of two distinct types: those that have a stiff stalk attached to the bulb, and those that do not.

Classifying Garlic

In the early 1990s, Ron England proposed that garlic be separated into two subspecies based on their ability to bolt. Bolting strains were classified as Allium sativum subsp. ophioscorodon and non-bolting as Allium sativum subsp. sativum. Later research proved that classifying garlic was much more complicated (for a comprehensive overview, please refer to The Complete Book of Garlic by Ted Jordan Meredith), however the rough separation originally proposed by England is still popular, although less formally and more commonly referred to as ‘hardnecks’ and softnecks’.

Garlic Types: The Difference Between Hardneck Garlic and Softneck Garlic

The most obvious difference between hardneck and softneck garlic is their appearance. Hardnecks are so-called because of the long flowering stem growing through the center of the bulb. Called a scape, this stalk produces an umbel, a terminal pod within which bulbs are produced. Bulbs can be removed from the scape when mature and planted in the same way as cloves, although they usually need two or more season’s growth before they produce a differentiated bulb. The bulb surrounding the scape of a hardneck variety consists of a single layer of regularly-shaped cloves. The number of cloves vary between hardneck cultivars, but tend to fall between four and twelve.

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