You can plant it whenever you want. The OSU-recommended planting dates for garlic are Sept 1 - Oct 15. Some people do prefer to wait until later and that generally is because they don't want for it to sprout, grow and then get slapped back hard by the first big cold spell/frost/freeze of the autumn, which often doesn't occur until November. Honestly, you can plant garlic pretty much any day of the year and it tends to all work out well in the end with the caveat being that if you plant it very, very late (like in February, March or April), then you shouldn't expect a good harvest (or any harvest at all) that summer....and will have to wait until the following summer. Other than that, if you've got it, and you've got a well-drained spot to plant it, then go ahead and plant it. It's almost impossible to mess up planting garlic.

Haha. Guess who messed up garlic? Me. I planted some last fall and it never came up. However...there may have been a couple of kitties who used that bed as a litter box before I covered it with chicken wire.

I just bought mine and hope to get it planted this week. I think in areas where the ground freezes they recommend planting 6-8 weeks before, but I'm not sure it matters much for us.

yeah... reading a bit on this forum in the past I remember reading "anywhere up until Christmas!" And I believe that's only to give them enough time to grow. I started around fall equinox last year. I harvested too late. *shrugs* live and learn.

I planted my garlic last week. I would have liked to do it earlier, but, it seemed so hot in september. I did alot of reading before I planted. The longer you can keep it cool in the spring/early summer the better. I'm making a mental note to shade it. It will be mulched soon.

The first year I grew I used grocery store garlic and it grew nicely. I think I was lucky. They say if you don't want Chinese garlic, which has likely been treated to prevent sprouting, look for garlic with short roots. Chinese garlic apparently has those roots scraped off.

You may still be able to get seed stock garlic, but I'm thinking many will be sold out.

I planted many different kinds last year and have not been terribly impressed. I think our wet spring effected the taste. I would avoid turban types as they are supposed to have less garlic taste. My favorite hardneck variety was Geogian Crystal. I grew a soft neck called Star Island that got huge. I think the hardnecks are hotter than the softnecks. At least the ones I grew last season were.

Oh, by the way, I planted some cloves that got lost in Jan and still got small bulbs from them.

I am planting Deerfield Purple from Botanical Interests which I bought at the Mother Earth News Fair in Topeka KS last weekend.

Today, I walked by the small bed where I planted the garlic a couple of weeks ago and they've sprouted! Will they be okay when it freezes or will they die? What happens from here?

Okay. I'm sorry I keep asking about this...but all my garlic has sprouted and is growing tall. What happens to the garlic when it finally does freeze? Will it come back when I want it to--in the spring. I gathered up dead leaves today and dumped them over the garlic.

The tips turn brown, but garlic will continue as long as the bulbs don't freeze. I planted some in Jan last year I didn't think would survive, but they did.