Society Garlic

I remember it vividly.

My divorce was final on the first day of Spring (over a decade ago). I was living in Destin at the time and had "re-located" to the east side of the area, known as SanDestin. I went to Walmart and bought a bicycle for $69.00 and spent my non-travel, non-working days riding my bike around the neighborhoods that were nestled between the Choctawhatchee Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

While I am not, by any means, a bitter ex wife, my marriage was not a healthy place to be. It was not until I was out of it that I realized just how life had gradually transitioned into something that was not how I wanted to live. That Spring was the most gorgeous Spring that there has ever been. I remember commenting on it to a friend and their comment was "well, you must be happy". I was. I digress -but this brings me to the Society Garlic.

In the SanDestin area, I kept seeing these mounds of green spiky plants with clusters of star-shaped lavender flowers. While riding my bike around, I would stop and pick them from the resort's common grounds (being careful not to be spotted). They made excellent cut flowers that would keep for up to a week - allowing me to bring more of this most beautiful Spring into my home.

Two years later, I relocated to Northeast Florida in an effort to reduce some of my work related travel time. As I was looking for a new home, one of my top choices had this same plant in the front yard. This was the house that I ended up buying. I learned that the plant is "Society Garlic".

It supposedly gets it's name because it smells like garlic. I have never grown garlic, so I don't know what the plant smells like. However, I can tell you that, while it does have a distinct smell, it is not unpleasant at all and does not smell like the garlic that ends up on toast and spaghetti. The foliage looks kind of like chives and it spreads through bulb-like clumps. Except during our mild winters when it will sometimes turn brown, it looks great year-round and blooms from Spring through Fall. I have found it to be pest and disease resistant. And when I want more, I get the shovel and just dig out some of those clumps and replant it in a new location with great success! It remains one of my favorite plants and the flowers are still often cut and put in vases and bottles all over my house.