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Hello, this is my first time to grow garlic which I planted last Oct/Nov. It has been growing well, nice thick stems, yellowed a bit. I can now see flower heads beginning to form. Is this a good sign or a bad sign please put me out of my anxiety :-\!  :) Thanks in advance and happy gardening.

You should stop them from flowering by nipping of the central flowering stem to about half its height.  If they flower it apparantly reduces the size of the bulb.  hope this helps :)

Thanks HappyCatz.

...Am I the only one them with garlic starting to flower? ???

No...
My elephant garlic started to bolt a couple of weeks ago, and I just snapped off the flower stem.

If it's ordinary garlic it's probably in response to the really dry weather - it's having a panic...

Hi Lucky Star, Clip the flower stalk as soon as possible to improve the size of the bulb. The soft-neck garlick will not give flowers, It is only the hard-neck garlic that gives the "flower- problem".

Thanks! I can stop panicking now!   :) Have kept a close watch over this bed since last autumn, it's driving me nuts!!!  :o ;D

Don't worry, You will get , big, juicy garlic form that nice sandy soil in N.  ;D

My heffalumps have been bolting as well; I just take them off as the bulb is said to be bigger when you do. I might put one or two little ones into the flower border this year.

Now I know why my garlic has never grown large  ::) thanks for the info  :D

Even if the garlic flowers, it does not affect the keeping quality of the garlic, as the flower stem grows in between the cloves, unlike what happens with onions and shallots.

Cut the flowering stems today, trimmed the leaves off, and ATE THEM, Yuuuuuuuummmmmm!!!! ;D :P
I just realized that the stalk is an expensive Chinese cooking veg--delicious stir fried. Thanks for all the advice which ended in a happy meal!!!!!!  :-*

That's a thought; I've been wasting my elephant garlic flowers. I'll eat them next time.

It's a delicacy in most of Europe - not the kind of thing you could ever buy here & should be eaten in celebration of "why we bovver". Mmmmm, throw into a stir-fry, add to a Roux for a fantastic sauce, eat raw in a salad... yum yum, I wish mine would do it!