I would cut the scape On elephant garlic I think it does affect the size.You can replant elephant garlic right after harvest or store them then replant in a fall. I Personally would plant in the fall and plant a cover crop or plant summer crops in those rows I rather not have to weed and water something I wasn't going to harvest till summer 2010

when the scapes get no longer than 12 inches, cut them off to increase the size/yield of cloves.

Then 1, steam the scapes (include the bloom pod) for about 3-5 mins , careful turns mushy easily. Think asparagus here. Put some butter on them and Yumm!

2, put them in the ground somewhere and they will come as 1st year or green garlic. pull as desired, chop like scallions or chives, stir fry

3, toss in compost or trash

The littlr, bitsy tinyh bulb-looking things you'll find when you harvest in June/July can be replanted and will come up in Feb-April 2010 and can be used as green garlic. they otherwise will be these single golf-ball sized cloves that can be replanted again in the fall for full-sized ones in 2011.

BTW elephant garlic makes a nice bloom like Allium Globemaster, bees love it but cut it before the seeds mature or garlic will be growing from here to breakfast on your place.

Do the flowers from the elephant garlic make a pretty flower arrangement in a vase of water?

I have had leeks scapes before. Leeks and EG are close relatives.
Cut the stem when they are getting to curl. You can use them just like green onions/scallios. If you have alot of them, cut them into 1/4"(or whatever length you want) and freez them.I still have some in my freezer from last year.

I recently made pesto from garlic scapes....just follow your favorite pesto recipe and substitute scapes for basil. Yummy!

#1 yes, cut the scape/ flower off just above the top set of leaves.

#2 Harvest them this year if you want nice bulbs, because if left in ground, each clove will send up a shoot next year coming up in a multiple clump.

#3 I would replant rounds in the fall or cure them and use them in cooking. A round will slice up nicely for an excellent pizza topping or roasted with chicken.

I have grown many kinds of garlic over the years. The scapes on true garlic varieties will curl. However, on elephant garlic, they grow straight.

My nick name is Grandma Garlic :)

bar2350_comcast_net, I think they are pretty enough to be used in a flower arrangement. The flower stems arent too thick either.

I only have 1 that has a scape...will the seed from this be viable or no? Will it produce true elephant garlic or no?

In 25 years of growing elephant garlic, I have never seen the flowers produce seeds, so I say ignore that comment - just won't happen. Although I cut and eat most of the scapes from my elephant garlic, I always leave a number of them because I like seeing the tall flowers around my garden. You definitely need to dig it up once leaves are yellowing (I usually let about half the plant yellow), and definitely dig from under the garlic to recover all the corms (hard cloves growing around the outside of each bulb) that you can for replanting. That is a really good way to significantly increase your stock of garlic, though it takes a couple of years before they make nice heads. I always store the garlic in a cool place (essentially in the house with AC) once it is dry and cured a bit, and I wait until the fall, mid-October here in Z7, to replant. The great thing about elephant garlic is that it lasts through the winter very well.