Australian Garlic

Celebrating and understanding our garlic groups and cultivars

Southern Glen

Southern Glen bulbils in pseudostems

Southern Glen plants

Southern Glen bulbils

Southern Glen bulbs and bulbils

Southern Glen

Subtropical Group Softneck – Non-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

Other Names Non known
International Names Do not exist as this an Australian developed cultivar.
Flavour Very good. Raw it has moderate heat initially, with a nice garlicky sweet creole type flavour. Sautéed it is nice with a pleasant garlicky aroma. Best to age the bulbs a little before use.
Storage Good, 8-10 months
Growing location Grows well in all garlic growing regions of Australia. A day length neutral garlic, it is quite happy in warmer climates, one of the few that produces well in Queensland & Northern NSW.
Growing requirements Quite an easy garlic to grow. Some care needs to be taken to harvest on time in order to avoid split bulb wrappers.
Planting and harvest Very early to harvest. Nearly always the first to harvest normally by a couple of weeks. Taking into account seasonal variability, historically it is harvested in late August in Qld, early September in warmer regions of NSW and October in Victoria.

Bulb

Shape
A little lumpy and a little elongated, medium size typically 5.5 x 4.5cm. Tear drop shape with a slightly concave base.
Skin colour and texture
Dug purple on white. Mid layers are mottled light purple over most the wrapper on white background. Inner layers white. Dry to paler white but still with purple hue.
Skins are thin to medium, somewhat fragile, flaking or peeling off easily as they dry.

Clove

Number and layout
About 11 to 14 cloves per bulb. Outer layer at opposite ends of bulb with 2 or 3 cloves each end, middle layer with 5 or 6 cloves in circle around the center climbing up the center & then a large clove or 2 to 3 taller thin cloves in the centre.
Size and shape
Typically small to medium size cloves with average weight of about 2 gm. The cloves come in various shapes, the outer cloves are fat and rounded with no sides and a concave inner surface. A single central clove is larger and if 2 or 3 central cloves then these are taller and thinner.
Skin colour and texture
Varies depending on the season and location. Often maroon on tan, some have lots of strong maroon others are paler and some almost no maroon. Some years can be purple stripes on cream and quite pale.
The texture is quite thick and hard adhering tightly to the cloves. Once the skin is split the skins peel easily.

Plant

Size and shape
Not very substantial but they are strong plants. They are skinny, upright and smallish to about 60cm.
Leaves
Thin straight and fairly upright. Evenly spaced up the stem with a large gap between each leaf. The leaves are yellow-green tending to mid-green early and dark green almost grey-green for the latter developing leaves. The pseudostem is yellow-green
Young plants
Strong, slender and upright. They are often the quickest to get growing and initially grow much faster than most other cultivars.
Matures Very early. Some seasons the plants may lean over nearing bulb maturity.
Scape None
Umbel and beak None
Bulbils and flowers
1 to 3 per plant about 60mm, pink/purple. Appear in the pseudostem, not in an umbel on a scape. Bulbils planted at normal planting time grow to fully formed medium size bulbs or if stopped early, to medium size rounds.
No flowers.