On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 19:35:51 GMT, Tim Tyler wrote:

Two of my garlic plants seem to have buds on them.

I've tried eating the buds - they are great stuff - an amazing way to
experience garlic.

One of the buds has dropped - and I doubt the other will go much
further. These things look like minature garlic bulbs - and look
like they may be "intended" to hit the ground without flowering -
interesting for me if so; I didn't know alliums engaged in that
sort of strawberry-style reproduction.

This page calls these things "bulbil"s:

http://www.killerplants.com/weird-plants/20050421.asp

Does anyone else have bulbils on their garlic?

Yes, some of mine does that, and I have sown them, with a lot of very
fine leaves appearing. They would certainly grow into usable garlic
with patience and care.
There is a menace of a wild onion which grows around here which
spreads in this way. It is almost impossible to eradicate. The bulb
splits up like garlic does, and the head makes loads of bulbils.
http://flood.nhm.ac.uk/cgi-bin/fff/g...raNo%5D=424100

Pam in Bristol