Smuel -- I have never seen leek left in the ground, but I am told it becomes like garlic. I have also been told that elephant garlic is really just a variety of leek. However, I do know that leek has a solid scape, and when you shop for it summer or later, you must be careful to make sure that the scape has not yet started. If it has, you will end up having to discard nearly half the plant. The scape is inedibly hard. David E. ________________________________ From: Shmuel Silinsky gardenbetter@gmail.com I wonder what happens if leek is not harvested and let to form a bulb? Another is what they call elephant garlic - the catalog of Nichol's Nursery in Oregon says they introduced it as a crop and gave it the elephant garlic name. I have not seen it wild here, but would sure like to. : )