Purple Stripe Garlics

Purple Stripe Garlic is a term used to describe a sub-group of Hardneck Garlic.

There are about 17 varieties in this sub-group. Some think it’s one of the oldest types of garlic, because it’s the only group of garlic that still produces flowers that are fertile.

The garlic is this group is visually attractive. The bulbs have thick skin with purple blotches and purple stripes. How purple they get can depend on the growing weather.

Ones that are mostly striped are classed as “Standard Purple Stripes” — varieties such as Chesnok Red and Persian Star. Some have more “marbling” or “glazing” than they do striping. These are classed into two other subsgroups respectively. They have thicker bulb skins, and tend to have fewer cloves.

Generally with Purple Stripe Garlics, there will be 8 to 12 cloves per bulb, somewhat smaller than they are in other types of garlic, and somewhat curved. The cloves will have easy-to-peel buff skin with purple streaks on them.

In this group, Metchi is a strong-tasting one, Chesnok Red is a medium-tasting one, and Persian Star and Siberian Purple Stripe are very mild ones. All will hold their flavour well when cooked, and roast and bake up well.

In general, the plants do well where winters and springs are colder.

After harvest, the bulbs will have a storage life of 4 to 6 months.

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Other names