Australian Garlic
Celebrating and understanding our garlic groups and cultivars
Ail de Pays du Gers
Hardneck - Weakly Bolting
This cultivar falls into the Artichoke Group, Type 2 and shares its evolution with others in this sub-group from Formosan to Taiwanese and Taiwanese Purple. Long time grower Roger Schmitke selected bulbs from this heritage that produced larger bulbs and cloves then other cultivars grown in the 80s and 90s. These went to Queensland’s Gatton Research Station and over a 6 year period they were grown and selected and replanted, selecting only the biggest and best bulbs and cloves. In 1997 Southern Glen named and released.  See the Production of Garlic here
This day-length neutral cultivar is a very important cultivar for growers in warmer more northern regions.
General Information
International name/s: None known.
Flavour: Hot and spicey when raw, and still spicey when cooked.
Storage: Long to 12 months.
Growing location: Like other Creoles this garlic grows best in hot dry regions such as Northern SA and Victoria, Southern NSW and central WA. It also does well in Tasmania.
Growing requirements: It will grow in most regions but doesn't like high humidity, and does best in regions with hot, dry spring and summer.
Planting and harvest: Plant mid season, harvest mid season and late.
Bulb
Shape: Small to medium globe with a concave base. 5-5.5 cm.
Skin colour and texture: Solid, strong white skins with a pink blush showing through when first harvested, but curing to white.
Clove
Number and layout: 9-13 cloves in one or two layers.
Size and shape: Tall cloves with a sharply angled inner surface. 2.5-3 cm tall x 1-1.5 cm wide, they are slightly wider from the centre to the outside than the Rojos and Dynamite Purple.
Skin colour and texture: Red purple with cream stripes from the base
Plant
Size and shape: Typical Creole, tall and slender with mid green to blue-green leaves.
Leaves: Leaves usually upright and angled about 40° from the pseudostem; lower, older leaves will bend down from the middle.
Young plants: Slender and upright.
Matures: Matures slowly and deliberately.
Scape: Relatively strong scape although still classed as weakly bolting. Forms and upside-down U.
Umbel and beak: Slender small umbel with a long beak
Bulbils and flowers: No flowers. 50 or more rice grain sized bulbils, pointy at both ends, red and white.
Artichoke Group
Silverskin Group
Subtropical Group
Asiatic Group
Creole Group
Middle Eastern Group
Turban Group
- Flinders Island Purple
- Glamour
- Italian Purple
- Monaro Purple
- Ontos Purple
- Shandong
- Tasmanian Purple
- White Crookneck
- Xian