Wild Lettuce (Lactuca virosa) 20 seeds

Wild Lettuce (Lactuca virosa) Seeds: Grow This Delicious, Cold-Loving Lettuce

Wild lettuce is native to Central and Southern Europe, and it can be picked and eaten any time from early spring through to autumn. Into winter, the leaves toughen and become more bitter, before they die off for the rest of winter. For colour in the same patch, scatter corn poppy 'Single Red' seeds straight onto raked soil in autumn or spring and let this hardy annual flower in early summer. Anise seeds ask for a warmer, longer run in full sun, and there you're waiting on the ripe seed heads rather than picking leaves week after week. The hardiness and longevity of this plant makes it a great choice for gardeners who want to raise a salad leaf that they can harvest throughout the year. So long as you don't let it bolt, you'll have a supply of nutrient-rich lettuce leaves from spring all the way through to autumn! Want a second perennial leaf in the same patch? Sorrelis sown just as shallow, comes back year after year, and gives you tangy young leaves from early spring.

You can plant the seeds directly outdoors, covering them very loosely with soil. They should germinate in 10 to 20 days, and can even germinate in cold, frosty conditions (though this can prolong things). In fact, warm soil temperatures can stop the seeds from germinating, so don't be tempted to start them off cosy and warm indoors—they like it cold! If you let them bolt, flowers can reach around 2m tall.

This pack contains 20 wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa) seeds. Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) Seeds sit in the same daisy family and share that milky sap, though the leafy rosette hugs the soil instead of shooting up to head height in its second year. Mallow (Malva sylvestris) Seeds come from a different family entirely, giving soft leaves and pink flowers you can pick through summer from a plant that hangs around for a couple of seasons. Patience of another order goes into Asparagus 'Argenteuil' (Aspergus officinalis) Seeds, whose crowns want two or three springs in the ground before you cut a single spear. Stocking up for the season? There are more seeds for a wellness garden to sift through.

From Africa and southern India, and sown indoors at the end of April, comes Klip Dagga.

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