Serpent garlic (Allium sativum ophioscorodon)
Serpent garlic (Allium sativum
var. ophioscorodon)
One look at serpent garlic and you can see how it acquired its name.
Also known as rocambole, the flower heads of serpent garlic
twist and turn in a crazy fashion as they grow, until finally straightening up when mature later in the summer.
Similar to our more usual forms of garlic in many ways, this is an easy plant to grow so long as it can have plenty of sunshine and a well drained soil. However, the bulb can be treated like a perennial getting larger each season, and the bulbils which form in amongst the flowers will fall and grow if left forming a large clump in time, giving you access to small fresh garlic bulbs as and when if you don't mind a rummage, and green garlic shoots in abundance through the autumn to spring.