Wild Garlic – 5 Seeds

Wild Garlic Seeds. Wild Garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) is a fast-growing, bulbous plant that reaches a height of 0.5 m. The leaves are long, narrow, strap-like, slightly fleshy and smell strongly of garlic when bruised. They grow from fat, tuberous roots which spread to form clumps of plants. The pinkish-mauve tubular flowers, clustered into umbels of up to 20 flowers, are held above the leaves on a tall flower stalk, and appear over a long period in summer (January to April). They too smell of garlic when picked. The fruit, triangular capsules, are grouped into a head, and when ripe they split to release the flattened, hard black seeds.

Wild Garlic Culinary Uses

• This attractive plant is ideal for the herb garden, as both the leaves and flowers can be used in salads and other dishes.
• Zulu people use the leaves and flowers as spinach and as a hot, peppery seasoning with meat and potatoes.

Wild Garlic Other Uses

• The smell repels fleas, ticks and mosquitoes when crushed on the skin.
• The crushed leaves may be used to discourage moles from the garden (by their strong smell)
• Wild garlic is a very good snake repellent.

Wild Garlic Medicinal Benefits

• The crushed leaves may be used to help cure sinus headaches.
• The fresh bulbs are boiled in water and the decoctions are taken orally to clear up coughs and colds.
• The bulb has been used as a remedy for pulmonary tuberculosis and to destroy intestinal worms.
• Wild garlic may prove to have the same or similar antibacterial and anti-fungal activities as has been scientifically verified for real garlic.
• The leaves are used to treat cancer of the esophagus.
• In Zulu traditional medicine they use the bulb to make an aphrodisiac medicine.

Growing Wild Garlic

Indoor Sowing: Spring and Summer.

Direct Sowing: Spring and Summer.

• The hard black seeds are best sown in spring in deep seed trays and can be planted out during their second year.
• Use a well-drained seedling mix.
• Cover the seeds lightly with the sowing mix, clean coarse sand, or milled bark.
• Keep the soil consistently moist.
• Place the trays in a warm but shaded position.
• Germination in about 30 days, but can take longer.
• Transplant the seedlings to their permanent location once they are a few inches tall.
• Water well for the first few weeks to help the plant settle.
• Mulch with a good quality compost.
• First flowering can generally be expected in the second or third year.
• It thrives in full sun, but can tolerate partial shade.
• It prefers loamy soil with an acidic, neutral, or alkaline pH.
• It can also be mass planted to form a ground-cover in sunny or partially shaded positions.
• It thrives in well-drained soil containing plenty of compost.