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Phisherman[_3_] · 25-01-2009, 06:46 PM posted to rec.gardens

On Sun, 25 Jan 2009 08:25:07 -0800, wrote:

On Sat, 24 Jan 2009 11:54:28 -0800, wrote:

Is it necessary to remove the husks from the separated
cloves? Or advisable?

Tx

Persephone

Thanks to all who weighed in on this.

Based on your input, I won't bother removing the husks and
will make sure I plant in the proper vertical orientation and have
saved some "base plate".

Curious about one poster who grows garlic near roses as
anti-aphid (exactly what I'm doing). You said you grow as
perennial -- so you just leave it underground?

Last year I harvested the bulb -- tiny, alas -- and ate the cloves.
If it's better to leave them in the ground for anti-aphid properties,
I'll do that, though there IS some "spiritual" benefit in
consuming food that one has grown.

Yes, I have left them in the ground for over 10 years now. It grows
from January to June when the summer heat kills it back. They
produce blooms too. The color and shape complement the Don Juan
climbing roses. That's perfect timing to ward off aphids when they
are looking in the spring. I have lots of deer, but they have not
bothered the garlic, perhaps it helps repel them from eating the
roses. The garlic feeds off the cow manure which is intended for the
roses.