Salt - here's a good article about planting garlic in Texas. Since you're in the South, your weather suggests you'll plant at different times than us in the colder climates. They mention only planting softneck garlic, but I agree that you should try what you find in your area.
Who knows? Your elephant garlic may explode!
http://dallas.culturemap.com/news/re...ons-gardening/
Why not plant both cloves and seeds? Seeds do take about 3 years to mature though.