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Soft neck garlic is commonly seen braided and hanging in warmer climates. These type have a milder flavor and feature smaller, more abundant cloves. Notably, they tend not to produce flowers and lack a robust neck.
Conversely, hard neck garlic, which thrives in colder zones (like Zone 9), has a stronger flavor profile with larger, fewer cloves. These types are more closely related to wild garlic and tend to fare better in lower temperatures. Hard necks actually rely on a period of chilling — known as vernalization — to develop properly into bulbs. Without this period, growers may end up with a lush green plant but no bulbs, leading to considerable frustration.