A well-balanced collection of crisp, mild and spicy leaves to keep your salad bowl full all winter, curated by Ellen.
Lettuce 'Wintercrop'
Salad Mustard 'Rouge Metis'
Salad Leaf 'Mibuna'
Salad Mustard 'Pizzo'
Rocket 'Astro'
Chinese Mustard 'Vivid Choi'
Don't forget to download our free winter salad growing guide! Timing your sowings well is crucial for winter leaves.
Cornflowers are some of the most robust cut flowers out there - they thrive in poor soil and are rarely bothered by pests and diseases. They attract a wide range of pollinators to your garden and I often find them covered with hoverflies.Flowers are edible - sprinkle the petals in salads or in cocktails.Sow: September-October for overwintering seedlings. Sow undercover or outside Mar-May, depending on soil conditions. Loves to be sown direct into the soil.Plant: 4 weeks after sowing at 30cm.Harvest: Expect 60-80cm stem length.Vase: Pick when flowers are beginning to open for vase life of 5 days.1g (approx 200 seeds)CFBB-00037-KNG-C
A 'Blue Boy' cornflower selection made with floristry in mind. Deep blue flowers are all double or semidouble, hovering above wiry (and sturdy) upright stems.The perfect garden plant for naturalistic planting schemes and makes a lovely filler in meadow-style arrangements. Looks beautiful with lilac, white and primrose yellow. Cornflowers are some of the most robust cut flowers out there - they thrive in poor soil and are rarely bothered by pests and diseases. They attract a wide range of pollinators to your garden and I often find them covered with hoverflies.Flowers are edible - sprinkle the petals in salads or in cocktails.Sow: September-October for overwintering seedlings. Sow undercover or outside Mar-May, depending on soil conditions. Loves to be sown direct into the soil.Plant: 4 weeks after sowing at 30cm.Harvest: Expect 60-80cm stem length.Vase: Pick when flowers are beginning to open for vase life of 5 days.1g (approx 200 seeds)CFFBu-00104-JNY-C
Daydream is an airy cosmos in the lightest shade of pink, deepening to rose pink at the centre. This cosmos has sweet, little blooms on wiry stems and is always our first to flower. It's also our first to go over so its worth sowing two or three successions if you want flowers all summer. As with all cosmos, it'll bring a tonne of bees and beneficial insects to your garden.Sow: Mar-April undercover, May-June outside.Plant: 4-6 weeks after sowing at 30cm. Wait until risk of frost has passed.Harvest: Pick stems when flowers are half open. 60cm stem length.Vase: Expect a vase life of 5 days.~75 seeds/0.5gGerm 94% Nov 24
Fizzy White is one of our favourite cosmos varieties - Emma has been growing it for years to use in her wedding arrangements. It's pure white with a little ruffle of petals at its yellow centre. Its frilly but has a light and airy quality that the fully double varieties lack. Looks stunning in a garden border and attracts a tonne of bees and beneficial insects.Sow: Mar-April undercover, May-June outside.Plant: 4-6 weeks after sowing at 30cm. Wait until risk of frost has passed.Harvest: Pick stems when flowers are half open. 60cm stem length.Vase: Expect a vase life of 5 days.~75 seeds/0.5gGerm 88% Nov 24
A classic open, single flowered cosmos, specifically bred for cutting. The flowers are white, developing a delicate rose flush as they age. Versailles Cosmos varieties are a little different to your average cosmos - the foliage and petals have a slightly waxy quality (which is what makes them last longer in the vase than other varieties). It also takes a little longer for the plants to flower making it a perfect addition to your cutting garden as a late-flowering succession. As with all cosmos, it'll bring a tonne of bees and beneficial insects to your garden.Sow: Mar-April undercover, May-June outside.Plant: 4-6 weeks after sowing at 30cm. Wait until risk of frost has passed.Harvest: Pick stems when flowers are half open. 60cm stem length.Vase: Expect a vase life of 5 days.~75 seeds/0.5gCosVF-00107-JNY-CGerm 86% Dec 24
Glossy courgettes in the deepest, darkest green. This well-behaved variety grows in neat, bushy clumps and throws out courgettes over a long period. A great variety to avoid a courgette glut. This is an all-round scrappy variety which was bred in the US for drought tolerance and mildew resistance. The plants have incredibly extensive root systems and are highly adapted to organic cultivation.Sow: April (undercover, ideally at 21C), late May outsidePlant: end May, 60cm spacingHarvest: July-SeptKitchen: Slow cook, BBQ or roast. Pairs with fats (pine nuts, goats cheese, ricotta, feta, halloumi), citrus (lemon) salty flavours (capers, olives, anchovy, bacon), aromatics (coriander, dill, basil, marjoram).~15 seedsCouDS-00148-WNO-C
Germ 86% Feb 25
Toothsome cucumbers with beautiful deep-green, shiny skin. 'Mideast Peace' has a everything you want in a cucumber - sweet flavour, crunchy texture and it keeps well. Its one of the most robust cucumber varieties we've grown. The plant photos in this description were taken in October! As with all Lebanese-type cucumbers, the fruit are stouter than a standard supermarket cuc - they max out at 15cm. A true dual purpose variety - harvest thumb-sized for pickles or to palm-sized for Shirazi salads all summer long.The vines grow from 1-1.5m and can be trained on strings or left to sprawl although the cucumbers are better quality when trained. Mideast Peace was bred by Dr. Alan Kapuler of Peace Seeds (Corvallis, Oregon) for cool climates and we've found this variety to be both early and prolific in unpredictable British summers.Sow: April on a sunny windowsill or heated propagator at 21C.Plant: Harden off and plant into unheated greenhouse/polytunnel after risk of frost has passed. Usually ready to transplant 4 weeks after sowing. Plant at 60cm spacing, train up strings or leave to sprawl.Harvest: As baby cucs for pickles or for salads.Kitchen: Pickle or eat raw. Pairs with citrus (lemon, lime), aromatics and spices (dill, fennel, coriander, ginger, chilli, black pepper), alliums (spring onion, garlic, garlic chives), fats (sesame, cashew).Notes: Plants can be trained up strings or left to sprawl (and will take up a lot of room!).
~20 seeds
92% Nov 24
A chance to buy some very rare seeds. This seed is a cross between Cynoglossum ‘Firmament’ (blue, pictured) and ‘Mystic Pink’ (rose, pictured).
Expect mostly blues with the chance of some surprises in soft rose and lilacs. We love Cynoglossum because it flowers so abundantly, attracting incredible populations of bees to your garden.
Sow: Valentines day to end April. Darkness aids germination.Plant: May, after risk of frost has passed.Harvest: June-October. Pick a quarter of flowers on stem are open.Vase: Tips are prone to wilting. Pick in the cool and if stems wilt, sear the stems. Submerge cut edge in boiling water for 10 seconds then return to cold water.Notes: Cynoglossum self seeds.
~1g / ~200 seedsGerm 96% Dec 24
Lovely golden globe-shaped beetroot that bring a bit of sunshine to your plate. This variety has very strong, healthy, upright stems which are sturdy enough to bunch or cook as a green. The roots have a intense, turmeric-yellow colour which persists even after cooking. With such bright colouring, surely these beets are brimming with antioxidants. Beetroot are one of the easiest crops to grow but are a bit of a marmite crop in the kitchen. We find the yellow varieties have a milder, and more aromatic flavour than their red counterparts.Sow: April-July, can be sown in modules or directPlant: 4 weeks after sowing.Harvest: June-OctoberKitchen: Roast or boil. Pairs well with spices (cinnamon, chili, cumin), acid (lemon, balsamic vinegar), fats (goats cheese, feta, walnuts, pinenuts, hazelnuts, pecans), salty (capers, olives), aromatics (mint, parsley, dill, fennel, thyme).~4g/200 seedsBeeWin-00075-TMR-OGGerm 81% Dec 24
A richly aromatic oregano which is a very useful and robust plant to grow. This is herb for all your favourite Greek dishes. It grows well in containers or in a herb bed, producing lots of leafy growth followed by a tonne of bee-loved flowers. The blooms make a lovely scented addition to garden posies. This is a perennial herb which you can expect a smaller harvest from in the first year. It will bulk out over the next few years. Cut back old growth in early spring to encourage new soft growth.Sow: March - April (at around 18C)Plant: 30cm apart in MayKitchen: The it herb for greek, mexican and italian dishes. Pairs with fats (eggs, yogurt, halloumi, soft cheese, parmesan), aromatics (basil, parsley, chives, mint, thyme), spicy (chili), acid (white wine, red wine vinegar)~0.1g/1000 seedsHrbGkO-00118-CNS-CGerm 69% Dec 24
Gypsophila 'Covent Garden' is a classic cut flower, beloved by anthophiles everywhere for its light stature and larger-than-average pure white blooms. Easy to grow. Sow seeds direct in spring or early summer and the plants take off like a bat out of hell. For this reason, Gypsophila makes a brilliant summer gap-filler.
Sow: Best direct sown from mid-March to June or Sept. This is a 'one-and-done' flower - sow a couple of successions for constant supply.
Harvest: Pick when half the flowers on the stem are open.
Vase: Expect vase life of a week.
~0.5g / 450 seeds
Germ 95% Nov 24
Salmon rose is a beautiful variety with flowers ranging from rose pink, through to salmon pink and apricot blush. Warm autumnal hues which look great fresh or dry. A brilliant cut flower which can be used fresh but comes into its own when dried. Pick at the height of flowering, bind together in generous bunches and hang them to dry upside down and the colour will intensify. You'll have colourful blooms to brighten up the house and take you through the winter months and beyond. There's a reason this is known as the 'everlasting flower' and 'immortelle'.Helichrysums are Australian natives which are very robust and drought tolerant.Sow: Sow undercover in April or outside direct in May. Benefits from warm soil.Plant: 4 weeks after sowingHarvest: July-September. Pick when flowers are half open. Stems 80cm or longer.Vase: Can be used fresh or dry. To dry, strip off foliage, tie in a bunch and hang upside down. Flower colours will intensify.
0.25g / ~300 seedsGerm 77% Nov 24
A total stunner. Papery blooms start off a deep shade of fuchsia before mellowing out to a silvery rose. An elegant colour which looks beautiful fresh or dried. A brilliant cut flower which can be used fresh but comes into its own when dried. Pick at the height of flowering, bind together in generous bunches and hang them to dry upside down and the colour will intensify. You'll have colourful blooms to brighten up the house and take you through the winter months and beyond. There's a reason this is known as the 'everlasting flower' and 'immortelle'!Helichrysums are Australian natives which are very robust and drought tolerant.Sow: Sow undercover in April or outside direct in May. Benefits from warm soil.Plant: 4 weeks after sowingHarvest: July-September. Pick when flowers are half open. Stems 80cm or longer.Vase: Can be used fresh or dry. To dry, strip off foliage, tie in a bunch and hang upside down. Flower colours will intensify.0.25g / ~300 seeds71% Oct 24
There is a shade of electric purple found in vegetables which is hard to ignore. Azur star kohlrabi is a prime example of it. Smooth, bright purple vegetables which add gorgeous colour to autumn harvests.They have a mild, brassica flavour, similar to radish and can be used in similar ways. Try as crudites, grates in salads and slaws or baked in a gratin. Kohlrabi is often associated with Germany and Austria but the vegetable has a surprisingly long history in England. The first recording of field scale kohlrabi production dates all the way back to 1837. Sow: mid Feb-early March undercover or after mid June-July outsidePlant: April or July-August, 20-30cm spacingHarvest: June or September-OctoberKitchen: Make into salads, roast, bake or pickle. Pairs with citrus fruits (lemon), aromatics (coriander, chervil, dill), sweets (carrots, apples, honey), fats (parmesan, yogurt, sesame).Notes: Plants get woody at the base if left too long.~0.5g/150 seedsKohAz-00090-MOL-OGGerm 98% Oct 24
Carentan is an old European leek variety with stout, thick stems and a beautiful mild flavour. Mentioned in Vilmorin-Andrieux's 1883 book 'Les Plantes Potagères', this variety is a selection from the 'Très Gros de Rouen' leek. With its roots in the Norman city of Rouen, Carentan is an heirloom variety very well adapted to cool summers and grey skies.
This is a winter hardy leek, plan to harvest it October-January. We recommend leaving a few leeks in the ground and letting them flower - the pom-pom flowers bring in so many pollinators.Sow: April-May undercover or outside. Sow thickly in a seed bed. You can make a seed bed in open soil or use a crate/large pot filled with a multipurpose compost.Plant: May-June. Separate leek seedlings and trim roots and leaves by two thirds. This makes it easier to plant the leeks. Dib holes 20cm apart. Place 1 leek in each hole for big leeks, 3 in each hole for baby leeks. Do not recover with soil.Harvest: October-JanuaryKitchen: Almost as versatile as an onion. Slow cook to bring out sweetness or roast, barbecue & grill whole to add another flavour dimension. Pairs well with acid - lemon, white wine; fats - butter, cream, yogurt, cheese; aromatics - chervil, chives, tarragon, thyme.~1g/350 seedsGerm 95% Nov 24
A crisp, green Batavian type with a hint of an iceberg lettuce about it (in the very best way possible). Leaves are sweet in flavour and well-savoyed so they hold a salad dressing well. Can be grown for cut and come again baby leaves or as a heading lettuce.Lettuce is a very ancient crop, originally domesticated in Africa by the ancient Egyptians for its seeds and sap which were used as a pain killer and sedative. The Romans went on to cultivate lettuce for its leaves and used it as a braising green.Sow: March-July for harvests into autumn. March-April undercover, May outside. Four sowings across the year will have you eating plentiful salad leaves year round if you harvest by picking leaves off the stem.Plant: 4 weeks after sowing at 20-30cm spacing.Harvest: 8 weeks after sowingKitchen: Crisp - perfect for a shredded with red cabbage and red onion for a kebab-style salad.Notes: Do not let seeds get hot when germinating - 15C is ideal, anything above 18C encourages seed dormancy.~200 seeds/0.25gLetBdP-00009-TMR-OGGerm: 100% Dec 24
Not the most exotic sounding lettuce on our list but Maureen is as reliable as they come. Bred to outperform the standard Little Gem type in resistance to downy mildew and seasonality. Bright, fresh green, compact hearts which are equally at home in a crisp Caesar salad as they are braised with bacon and peas.Lettuce is a very ancient crop, originally domesticated by the ancient Egyptians for its seeds and sap which were used as a pain killer and sedative. The Romans went on to cultivate lettuce for its leaves and used it as a braising green.Sow: Feb-May undercover, May-July outside. Stagger sowings for continuous supply.Plant: 4-6 weeks after sowing, plant 20cm apartHarvest: Feb-AprilKitchen: Best used in salads.Notes: To make the most out of your space, you can sow/plant 10cm apart then harvest every other plant leaving the remaining half to head up. Do not let seeds get hot when germinating. 15C is ideal, anything above 18C encourages seed dormancy.~200 seeds/0.025gGerm 87% Nov 24
We love 'Bronze Queen' for its unusual deep bronze flowers which dangle daintily from the stem. Nicotiana are stately, long stemmed plant which look like they should be difficult to grow. But they're not. Keep the plants well picked and one sowing will keep you in flowers all summer long. Nicotiana are moth pollinated flower so are a brilliant flower to incorporate into a pollinator friendly garden.Sow: March to April. Needs light to germinate. Broadcast in seed trays and prick out (seeds are very small)Plant: 30cm apartHarvest: For longest vase life harvest when a third of the flowers are open. Expect stems of 80cm which feel sticky to touch.Vase: Expect vase life of a 10 days
~100 seeds
Germ 70% Nov 24
Gorgeous lacy umbels of fresh white flowers which add a touch of romance to your borders. Excellent cut flowers through spring to mid-summer. Blooms are very versatile in the garden and in the vase.
As with all umbellifers, they are very popular with pollinators and autumn sowing provide vital nectar for bees in spring.Sow: September-October for overwintering seedlings. Sow undercover or outside Mar-May, depending on soil conditions. Loves to be sown direct into the soil. Seed needs to be exposed to cold to germinate well.Plant: 30cm apartHarvest: Expect 60cm stem length.Vase: Pick when two thirds of the flowers on umbel are open. Vase life of 7 days.1g (approx 50 seeds)OrGF-00151-VTL-OG
Healthy, vibrant and flavoursome flat leaf parsley. Bred by Bingenheimer Saatgut, this variety has been selected for beautiful uniformity, cold hardiness and year-round leaf quality. The name translates to 'Easy cut' and this variety is as at home in a productive market garden as it is on an allotment. It's shorter than 'Italian Giant' giving a higher ratio of leaf to stem. Sow: March-April undercover, May outside. Early August sowing for overwintering.Plant: 6 weeks after sowingHarvest: 8-10 weeks after sowingKitchen: Parsley is a balancing herb which pairs with nearly anything.Notes: For best quality overwintered leaves, grow in a greenhouse or polytunnel or protect with fleece.0.5g / ~200 seeds
Germ 90% Dec 24
Aromata is a truimph of sensorial plant breeding - intensely selected for flavour and texture, yielding a slim, butter-yellow variety with a firm texture and intense aroma. A brave new world of culinary possibilities has been opened! Say goodbye to bland, spongy parsnips and hello to crisp, tender roots. This variety is well suited to eating raw - think remoulade and coleslaw.Another great variety from Kultursaat breeders in Germany, developed from an accession from the IPK Leibniz gene bank. Read the breeders story below.Sow: April-early May in May. Kitchen: Pairs with savoury (bacon, marmite), fats (blue cheese, hard cheese), spices (nutmeg, cumin, anise), watercress.Notes: Seeds are slow to germinate, keep soil damp. Thin seedlings to 5cm and keep weeded. Roots are sweetest when harvested after the first frost.
1g / ~200 seeds
PnpAro-00023-TMR-OGGerm 80% Nov 24The Story Behind the Variety...Back in the 90s, breeders at Kultursaat noted a big inconsistency in flavour and texture within individual parsnip varieties. Single varieties yield roots which tasted completely different - some were bland, some sweet, some spongy and some bitter. So they embarked on a long journey to create a variety which excelled in flavour and texture. As a root vegetable and biennial seed crop, the challenge was to find a method to taste test each root whilst keeping them in good enough condition to replant and save seed from the following year. Their solution was to remove a small core from each parsnip to taste. Hundreds of parsnips were tested and the roots with the best eating qualities were replanted to save seed from. This was done for years until the variety was just right. The finishing flourish was to test the variety in different soil types, showing it could grow well in clay, loamy, sandy and upland soils.https://www.kultursaat.org/dateien/zuechtung/sorten_englisch/aromata-en.pdf
The best tasting perpetual spinach out there - sweet, tender, verdant green leaves on slim stems. Verde da Taglio is an easy-to-grow Italian heirloom which is perfect for gardeners who want to make the most out of their growing space. A couple of sowings will provide you with year-round greens. This is one of our favourite greens in the catalogue - we grow it every year without fail.Sow: April (undercover) & July (outside or undercover) for continuous supply. Plant: 4 weeks after sowing, or sow direct.Harvest: Baby leaves in 6 weeks, big leaves in 8-10 weeks. Harvest outside leaves.Kitchen: Eat baby leaves raw and cook older leaves - steam, sautee, or braise. Cook stems a little longer than leaves. Pairs with acid (lemon, balsamic vinegar, lime), fats (goats cheese, walnuts, coconut milk, butter), salty (olives, feta, parmesan), aromatics (chilli, nutmeg, dill, fennel, thyme).1.5g / ~75 seedsGerm 83% Dec 24
A productive salad leaf and stalwart cut flower rolled into one. Wrinkle Cress grows quickly and abundantly, adding pep to your salads from autumn through to spring. As the days lengthen, plants throw up shoots full of tiny white flowers which gradually transforming into graceful seed heads. The seed heads can be picked when glaucous green or when dry and silvery. They are super versatile - an easy way to add texture to late summer and autumn arrangements. Use fresh or dried.
Sow: mid March-May & Aug-Sept (undercover or outside)
Plant: direct sow or plant 10-20cm apart
Harvest: Salad leaves 4-8 weeks after sowing. Cut seed heads when the uppermost flowers have faded.
Kitchen: Eat fresh in winter and early spring salads. Pairs with citrus (orange, lemon, lime), aromatics and spices (coriander, ginger, five spice, chilli), alliums (spring onion, garlic), fats (sesame, cashew).
Vase: Expect fresh seed heads to last for a week.
~1g / 400 seeds
Germ 93% Nov 24
