CMK, OH BOY...where do we start here. You have a typical hardneck type garlic, the mini cloves up top are called bulbuils. they are actually mini garlic rounds or seeds that can be planted or eaten, I prefer to eat them if any of mine reach that stage. I would eat them when you think they're ready then wait until four green leaves are left on the plant and harvest the bulb. If you are planting these bulbils you probably aren't getting a very big plant. I could go on and on about this but please go to www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com and read everything on that site about garlic and how to grow it. it's a good source of great information. Check out a local farmers market this summer and maybe find a couple bulbs you like and plant the cloves in Middle October first week of November.

its normal, you can grow 2 on seperate vines. but the pumpkin might abort one if she doesnt want it.

wildbirds is right: BIG SMILE is a dip. I don't think it's possible to know whether they're related, because a parent of BE is listed as a seedling. But if related, it probably would have to be some generations back (because BE was registered 10 years before BIG SMILE). KCC, to find out that kind of stuff (ancestry, ploidy, etc.), go to the AHS database and search on the cultivars' names. Then, for ancestry, for example, search on each parent's name, each of the parent's parent's names, and so on as far back as you can go. In the case of BIG SMILE and BE, you can't go back very far, so that's why you can say only that it's possible they're related. I don't know enough to suggest other steps one could take to find out anything more. I've seen BE in gardens, and I think it's very pretty. I may have seen BIG SMILE at the nearby AHS display garden, as it's listed in the 1000+ inventory of daylilies for sale (!). But I must confess, if I saw it, it did not leave an impression one way or the other. That's not a criticism, since it may not have been in bloom on my visit days. Regardless, it looks as if the consensus here is definitely in favor of BE.

I grew 'purple sensation' and 'schubertii' this past year for the first time. I also had 'ivory queen', 'caeruleum' and 'hair'. I loved them all, although I expected 'hair' to be groovier than it actually was. But still, it was kind of funky. Anyhow, they were a big success and I will be planting more this fall. They were incredibly easy and so architectural in their appearance -- I got more comments on them than anything in the garden. Even as the flower is declining and going to seed it is quite striking because of the graphic roundness. Also, the foliage is not as problematic as daffodil or tulip foliage. It dies back quickly and can easily be covered by other emerging plants. Very good then. I say, buy your little allium heart out. I plan to plant many more myself and am most anxious to try the bigger ones, like 'globemaster'.