What I ended up with is not Babbington's Leek. At least I don't think so. Those are supposed to have bulbils in their seed heads but I didn't get them. In fact, didn't get any apparent viable seeds either. Bulb divisions were only into two large round halves with some plants and up to 4 round bulbs in others. There were a few bulblets similar to those associated with elephant garlic but very dark brown color. Very slow to reproduce so I'll be devoting less space to them. Whatever they are, probably better for the South. Martin

Thanks for the information. Can alliums that have not started to die back be pulled and successfully cured now or is the water content just too high at this point? I started transplanting last evening from my ancillary beds. I made it through the shallots getting all the dirt I could. I know I lost a few plants as I did not dig deep enough to get all the roots. I will take extra care to protect the roots from sunlight. Details on specific varieties at end of post. Since transplanting will set them back so much, I will cover them with a shade cloth and make sure to irrigate and give them extra attention to help them recover. With the multiplying onions and shallots I am not so concerned with getting a edible harvest as much as getting enough to replant for the fall for next year. I have sort of written this year off for eating from the garden until after all the work is done in the backyard. Alliums always seem to fade here in July. I know it is related to the day length, but in the years of drought the harvest always seems to come a few weeks earlier (last year a full month) and if it rains I seem to get an extra week or two so hopefully the extra protection will allow the transplants to recover somewhat. I pulled a few of the smallest garlic plants and the cloves are of a usable size. I am thinking about culling the smallest plants which usually have the smallest heads and curing them. That would bring me down to about 140 heads of garlic to transplant and at least twelve of each variety. Even with a high transplant failure rate I should have enough to replant and the culls should provide garlic for the next year. The Prince de Bretagne Shallots are doing so poorly (very little top or bottom growth) in my first year growing them that I am confident I got all the roots of about a dozen plants. The Griselle Shallots had a larger root system and I had to make a decision for a few plants on which one to disturb the roots of. The bulb size is actually decent on the disturbed plants and if I could cure them so they would last to the fall planting the size would be similar to the size shallots that were planted. The Frog's Leg Shallots (Red) were monsters when I planted them. A few of these are likely lost as the roots seem to run very deep. These seem to be dividing very nicely with each planted shallot being 6 or more small sized shallots. Several clumps had soft rot so hopefully the rest will survive. I will keep these in pots even afterwards as I do not want to introduce a rot disease into the new garden. These will continue to be isolated for another year. Today I hope to tackle Winter Onions. Only the best clump as a few have started topsetting and I should be able to use those to get the bed reestablished. Also I hope to transplant some potato onions into a stack of spare plastic nursery pots using the same procedure as the shallots. And finally move the best two babbington leeks. These have done poorly for me so far, but better each year. I want to keep a couple around for another year or two to see if the pattern continues or at some point their performance levels off.

Those appear to be leek plants and leek flowers. Allium ampeloprasum, to be exact. Of course, that could be Babbington, elephant garlic, or Los Mols. The only differences are the shape of the bulbs. When allowed to grow wild and naturalize via seed in the South, it seems that the first two want to revert to the third type. Tasting the leaves will confirm that it's a leek. Digging up a plant, after half the leaves are dead, will give you a clue as to which one. From reports of many such "wild" stands throughout the South, divided bulbs are seldom found, only rounds. Perhaps that may have something to do with why elephant garlic is only sold as cloves rather than seed. Also, my chives grow all summer and bloomed right up to and past frost last year. They were quite a hit with the honeybees. As it became colder, a friend's Russians would be here an hour or so before his Italians even thought of flying and still be here an hour later! Martin

I'd trade some for other things you want. And be sure not to plant the leek anywhere near your elephant garlic - or ornamental Allium - as they can look very much alike - and that can cause uncertainty about exactly what to pull for cooking as an actual Leek.. You'll also be unsure about which to mulch/blanch for more tender white Leek stems.