October is the best month to plant garlic in your garden, according to Chip Bubl, garlic expert and agricultural agent at the Columbia County office of the Oregon State University Extension Service in St. Helens. This type of garlic sets bulblets, tiny garlic bulbs, at the end of a tall flowering stalk, in addition to a fat underground bulb of cloves.
Some enthusiasts say it has a richer, more pungent flavor than non-flowering types.
Elephant garlic, actually a type of leek, produces large, mild-tasting cloves, usually fewer per bulb than the true garlics. Select healthy large cloves, free of disease. Space elephant garlic cloves about six inches apart. A single 10-foot row should yield about five pounds of the fragrant bulbs. Garlic is rarely damaged by insects.