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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

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Tuesday - March 12, 2013

From: Branchburg, NJ
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Non-Natives, Propagation, Edible Plants
Title: Edibility of non-native garlic sprouts from Brancburg, NJ
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I have regular garlic in my refrigerator. It had sprouts growing out of it so I put it in a cup of water. Now that the stems are large enough to put in food, my question is.. Is that part of the garlic edible?

ANSWER:

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Garden, home of Mr. Smarty Plants, is committed to the growth, propagation and protection of plants native not only to North America but to the area in which it is being grown, in your case, Somerset County, NJ. Allium sativum (Garlic) in the onion family, is native to Central Asia, and therefore falls out of our area of expertise.

From an article from the Boundary Garlic Farm  - Growing Garlic - we found a great deal of information on the cultivation and propagation of garlic, but no indication whatever than any portion of the plant was toxic. Whether it would taste good or not is another question, but we don't believe you would be at any risk at trying it.

 

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