A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 Is this lily of the valley or wild garlic?

I have some at home and can't tell the difference by googling images! Any telltale signs other than waiting for them to flower?

Thanks in advance! Mystery plant

looks like lilly of the valley to me

Hi Badkitti!!!

Have yours flowered already???

Here's what mine look like....

Are they close, do you think???

Hi, Mine looks like this: my plant

So difficult to tell so far!

My husband thinks it smells like garlic though...

Could very well be wild garlic....
That is veryyyyyyyy close to what it would look like...

Bruise a leaf and smell it. If it smells 'green', it's LOTV. If it smells garlicy, its garlic.

Thanks for your help everyone! I think I'm going to assume its garlic for now.

I have wild garlic in my yard and it looks nothing like that...it has grass like stems, except thicker and they're hollow. All you have to do is break off a piece of the stem and smell it...there's no mistaking whether or not it's garlic.

It could be a Wild Leeks

Don't you mean "Wild Weezie's"??

it's probably lily of the valley - they tend to spread out really well and it looks like you've got tons!

Well, the wild garlic or leaks will do the same thing..

We have a patch of wild leeks growing up on the hill by my brothers/used to be my parents home,
for some 35 years, and it's huge, it fills out,
the exact same way as the lily of the valley do...

I would say, the flowers would give it away for the lotv's... and the smell would give it away for the leeks...

oh, i didn't know that the wild garlic and leeks had the same kind of spreading growth! looks like badkitti will have to do some leaf squeezing!!

Just to clear up any confusion, wild garlic (Allium vineale) has long thin leaves and looks like a straggly type of garlic. Ramps (Allium tricoccum, also known as wild leeks or wild garlic) has broad leaves that look very much like lily of the valley. They are both edible and can be used like garlic in cooking.

Be VERY sure that what you have is an Allium before you eat it! Look a likes, like lily of the valley and autumn crocus, are very poisonous! All Alliums have the scent of garlic or onions when crushed. I would not eat them until I've seen them flower and know what species it is.

Thank for everyone;s advice - The large photy I took was from where i 'acquired' my own little specimen. The sign nearby said the area was full of wild garlic and LOTV, hence the confusion on my part.

It does smaell like garlic though! Is the name 'wild garlic' used for the same plant in the US?

Hi, badkitty!
It's wild garlic...an ingredient for the German kräuterbutter (herb butter)... and it grows wild in Europe. Once upon a time I came across this plant while on a walk in the woods in southern Germany,encountering some people picking kräuter ,and one fellow told me what it was used for.

Click on to Allium Ursinum .

This link goes to Google Image Search for wild garlic- bärlauch , in German- where you can find different pics, some showing its flowers, which look like yours.

P.S.: The botanical and the German names mean " bear garlic "