What are these???

**mckr3441** 4/25/2010, 11:36 am

Last year in my garlic patch a whole lot of "grass" grew up. I left it there over winter. Well now, I guess it wasn't grass, but I don't know what it is. Can anyone help me?

The single plant at the top of the picture is a store-bought green onion. The green "leaves" are hollow. The bunch of stuff below it have flat "leaves" like grass. The green leaves taste hot and somewhere between onion/garlic/???? Could they be baby garlics? Or volunteers of something else from my neighbor's garden? I've had the garlic patch for many years and this is the first time I've seen anything like this.

What are these??? Img_2011

Lavender Debs 4/25/2010, 11:48 am

Sure looks like young garlic but you say it has an onion scent? Baby garlic smells like momma.

Patty from Yorktown 4/25/2010, 11:53 am

Does your neighbor have a patch of garlic chives? Your plants look a bit like my garlic chives, however I do not remember the red near the roots. Perhaps this year will be a bumper crop of garlic and you will not need to worry so much about bugs.

Patty from Yorktown

**mckr3441** 4/25/2010, 11:56 am

Patty, thanks for the quick reply. I never heard of garlic chives! I'll have to check. Would they have grass-like greenery or hollow like an onion?

Claire What are these??? Icon_flower

Lavender Debs 4/25/2010, 12:19 pm

Except for the scent and the white flower brackets instead of purple flowers, like onion chives, mine were just a little smaller then my regulars. Otherwise, I had to pinch a leaf for the garlic scent to know the difference.

They look good whatever they are.

**mckr3441** 4/25/2010, 12:22 pm

Deb, I didn't see your response before. Baby garlic would be my best guess, too. But I've never seen it like this before. Here's a picture of the patch. I may just have to wait to see what it does!

What are these??? Img_2012

What do you think?

**mckr3441** 4/26/2010, 6:22 pm

Does anyone else have any ideas? I don't want to eat these until I'm sure what they are?

junequilt 4/26/2010, 9:24 pm

You mentioned a white bloom: at what time of year did it bloom? Garlic chives send up lovely white blooms in the fall. Their seeds are fairly large and black. And oh, how they multiply!

sceleste54 4/26/2010, 11:28 pm

Could it be Society Garlic?? Floridata: Tulbaghia violacea

**mckr3441** 4/27/2010, 1:52 am

Oh my, Sceleste! I sure hope they are Society Garlic! I just looked at the link you posted and it would be wonderful if that is what these are. Aren't the beautiful? and they are scented. My favorite. and also edible. What more could one ask?

Well, for sure I'm just going to have to let them come to flower to finally know what they are. There sure are a lot of them!

Thanks everyone, for your input. I'll keep you posted on the "mystery plant"!

Claire What are these??? Icon_flower

LaFee 4/27/2010, 3:31 am

It might be wild onions, too -- I don't know what they look like when they get big, as I tear them out by the fistfuls as soon as they dare show their little green heads. They've invaded several of my traditional beds -- and yes, they reek of onion. Some folks here do eat them -- I'm usually so mad at them that I just want them gone (so they go into the paper bag that the city collects to compost -- I don't want them thinking they can live in my compost, either!)

Beware of society garlic -- yes, it's scented and attraactive -- but it's scented of raw garlic. My mom had some in a bed when they bought their house, and she ended up tearing it all out because every time she opened the windows, it made the house reek of garlic for hours after the windows were closed.

plb 4/27/2010, 7:54 am

They look like spring onions to me (the red variety).

LaFee 4/27/2010, 1:24 pm

Here's a picture of wild onions that look an awful lot like the photo you posted:

http://serviced-apartment-flats.info/travel-site/travel-trips/wild-onion.html

**mckr3441** 4/27/2010, 1:31 pm

LaFee, you are right. They sure do look like wild onions! I may send a pic to my Extension Office and ask them what they think. Do wild onions have tubular greens or flat grass-like greens? Mine are flat, unlike any onions I know of.

Plb, spring onions... maybe. I looked them up too. Could be.

Thanks for the help. Still the flat greens confuse me.

Anybody any ideas?

Maybe the darn things will bloom soon and we can get an answer to this puzzle. BTW I don't see ANY garlic showing up in my beloved garlic patch. Seems these have taken over!

Claire What are these??? Icon_flower

martha 4/27/2010, 2:45 pm

mckr3441 wrote: BTW I don't see ANY garlic showing up in my beloved garlic patch. Seems these have taken over!

Claire

Uh oh - sounds like trouble. LaFee - as the wild onions started their invasion, did they squeeze out what you were trying to grow?

**mckr3441** 4/27/2010, 3:30 pm

martha wrote:
mckr3441 wrote: BTW I don't see ANY garlic showing up in my beloved garlic patch. Seems these have taken over!

Claire

Uh oh - sounds like trouble. LaFee - as the wild onions started their invasion, did they squeeze out what you were trying to grow?

Looks like What are these??? Icon_cry

! My garlic has been there for years! I only grew it for the funny scapes. No big deal though, I don't think. I was going to move it to the SFG anyhow. Now I can start with a known variety. These just came from my neighbor's yard and he just puts a clove from the kitchen (store-bought) in his garden.

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