Serpent Garlic (Allium sativum ophioscorodon) BULBILS

Allium sativum ophioscorodon – Serpent Garlic (Rocombole or Hard Neck Garlic) – bulbous perennial growing to 0.6m (2 Feet).  Producing attractive looping stems with heads of bulbils in summer that will eventually drop and produce new plants.  Plants will clump up more each year.

Edibility – Bulb can be dug up and eaten raw or cooked. The bulbs can be up to 6cm in diameter. Bulbils – raw or cooked – they have a strong garlic flavour, though they are rather small and fiddly to peel. Leaves – raw or cooked. Chopped and used in salads, they are milder than the bulbs.

Be sure not to dig all bulbs up if wanting a crop the following year.  Alternatively, save some bulbils and either sow direct or pot up in autumn and plant out in spring.  It is recommended to leave the bulbs to grow for a few years before digging up.