In article ,
"China" wrote:

When it comes to the cooking:

- How different are the many types of garlic?

Noticeably so.

- Is it important to different cooking styles?

If you are a purist, I would imagine so.

- Is it worth growing more than one type for the kitchen?

If you have the room and want to do it, yes. Some of the alliums are quite
decorative.

- What are the largest or strongest types?

Russian or Elephant garlic has huge (but rather mild) cloves and is grown
mainly as an ornamental. AFAIK you can eat all sort of alliums, but some are
better-flavoured than others.

I like Welsh onions (also called bunching shallots), leeks, chives, ordinary
garlic and Elephant garlic. I don't really like the taste of garlic chives
and have been unsuccessful in growing shallots. Have never tried tree onions,
but they look fun.

Most alliums grow readily from seed (or in the case of garlic, the cloves), so
have fun experimenting!

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"In Melbourne there is plenty of vigour and eagerness, but there is
nothing worth being eager or vigorous about."
Francis Adams, The Australians, 1893.