Growing Wild Garlic

[Chants Cottage]

I ask this as a novice gardener and forager... would it be possible to use wild garlic flowers to grow my own wild garlic from seed, and if so what's the best way to go about it? Or do you have to dig it up (I know there are laws concerning this!!)? I picked some earlier along with a few flowers. We don't have any woodland as such but there are a few shady treey bits that are probably suitable for wild garlic. Failing this, is there a good source of wild garlic seeds / plants that anyone knows of apart from the wild?! Thank you

[gregorach]

Yes, you can grow it from seed. You could gather your own, or alternatively there are a number of places which sell seed - easily enough found with a quick Google. Or you can actually buy established plants... One thing to be aware of though is that it can be very invasive stuff if you've got the right conditions for it, so you might want to think about keeping it contained.

[Zech]

I'm planning on doing exactly the same thing, so it's nice to hear that it works, if a little too well!

[boboff]

If your coming past Gunnislake you can have some of mine.

[Chants Cottage]

Thanks for the advice, Dunc and the kind offer Boboff!! Not too concerned about the invasiveness of it as we don't really have that much in the way of shady damp bits (!). Just wondered if the flowers I have would be too immature to harvest seed from and what I need to do to the seeds if anything... I'd like to grow it from seed if possible but I'm very green (ie ignorant) regarding this gardening / propagation malarkey.

[gregorach]

As long as you make sure the seed is ripe before you collect it, you should be fine... I think it usually ripens around late June (up here anyway), but it's one of those things you've just got to judge.

[Henwoman]

Really weird, but I've never seen wild garlic here in Brittany. When I lived in Cornwall you'd get the aroma of garlic whenever you went out walking in the country, but here, nothing.

[Davie Crockett]

Wild garlic (Ramsons) is really easy to grow from seed. As said before, it is VERY invasive. My father planted 2 bulbs which he picked up after a tree had blown down and exposed the underlying soil. His garden is awash with them now. They are very efficient at casting seed.

There's very good advice here: http://www.knowyourvegetables.co.uk/kno ... ow-ramsons

PS. if you find them invading areas where they're not wanted in large numbers, it is possible to pickle the bulbs. http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/wild-garlic-recipe

[Millymollymandy]

Really weird, but I've never seen wild garlic here in Brittany. When I lived in Cornwall you'd get the aroma of garlic whenever you went out walking in the country, but here, nothing.

I've never seen it either. I wonder if it's a plant that likes chalky soils?

[boboff]

It's acidic arond here, and they love it!
Such a pretty flower, always gets the front cover pic on many a book.

[Millymollymandy]

Oh. Well that blows that theory out of the window!

[boboff]

I would say as a woodland plant, it's always going to err on the side of acidic.
It's amazing really how it works, it gets all it's work done, and then disapears in a month when the leaves form on the trees.

[boboff]

Just do what they would do naturally, put them in a pot, leave outside somewhere shady and mosit, you should get a plant next year, if you do plant them out from the pot after flowering.

[Chants Cottage]

Thanks everybody, I will give it a whirl. I think the flowers I have already picked are a bit young but there's plenty more where they came from at the moment... (sorry for rubbing it in MMM and Henwoman!!!)

[Millymollymandy]

You rubbed it in? Where? Does this mean you're a bit stinky?