Society garlic is a garlic-scented, almost garlic-flavored bulbing plant... but it's not really garlic. Learn how to grow it with our guide!Do you enjoy growing edible perennials? Maybe you love garlic chives for their flavor and pollinator-attracting prowess. Or maybe you’d like to add a splash of color to one of your herb gardens. If this description suits you, look no further than society garlic!
A society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) plant is a great addition to gardens managed by those with different plant tastes. Wildcrafters love using the leaves and flowers in salads and just as they would use wild garlic. Regenerative agriculture nuts love it because its hardy tuberous roots withstand almost any soil type.
Society garlic does not attract pests or pathogens that spread disease. It thrives in bright sunlight and hot weather. And get this: it won’t give you bad breath when you eat it, like garlic will. Even though it loves summer, it’s winter hardy, meaning a long growing season is at hand. Society garlic, Tulbaghia violacea, is also known as pink agapanthus, spring bulbs, and sweet garlic. The common name society garlic comes from its ability to flavor a dish without the undesirable fallout of bad breath. This clump-forming herbaceous perennial is native to South Africa and has been naturalized in Tanzania and Mexico. Most people in America know of society garlic plants for their clumping, green straplike foliage which branch out below fragrant (sometimes pungent) lavender colored flowers. Flowers are tuberous and grow in clusters. The flower color ranges from white to pink to purple. Some varieties have multi-colored blooms of purple and white.
Their tuberous roots need to be established before society garlic flowers can be separated and eaten. Interestingly, people who eat society garlic don’t come away with bad breath, even though the lavender-pink flowers smell as strong as skunk in the hot summer sun. Get it going, and you’ll be able to enjoy this clump-forming herbaceous perennial for at least three years. Flower stalks are topped by tubular flowers that reach up to 3 feet tall. Each lavender flower has six petals that cluster above narrow leaves.
Society garlic isn’t garlic. It exists in the same family as garlic and onions (the Amaryllis family), and lies in the same genus as other tuberous South African plants which are very similar. Unlike regular garlic and onions, it grows quickly, with seeds that sprout within one to two weeks. However, it takes a year or two to bloom. It’s used in soups, salads, and dishes just as garlic chives would be used. All parts (including roots) lend spice to any culinary endeavor.
Tubers have been used medicinally by people in Africa to treat many ailments. Zulu people in KwaZulu-Natal province have used the plant to season meat and potato dishes. They also plant society garlic around the edge of their homes to keep snakes out. And the same genus name comes from the governor of the Cape of Good Hope in Eastern South Africa in the 1700s (Rijk Tulbagh).