Lettuce 'Colour Shades Mixed' provides a tantalising mixture of bronze and red leaves to add colour, texture and taste to your salad bowl. This RHS AGM loose-leaf mix can be harvested as salad leaves or full heart crops all summer without worry, as this mix is particularly resistant to bolting. Height: 20cm (8). Spread: 25cm (10)
Globe Artichoke 'Green Globe Improved' bears larger, heavier, and more consistent quality globe-shaped heads. The characteristic sharp spines have been greatly reduced in this improved variety. The astonishingly tasty hearts make a supreme delicacy when pickled, and the base of the leaves can be eaten too. This majestic perennial vegetable makes an attractive addition to any vegetable plot. It is ideal for the flower garden too, attracting bees to its thistle like flowers when left unharvested. Height: 180cm (71). Spread: 75cm (30)
Dwarf Bean 'Boston' bears straight, round 15cm (6) long pods with a dark green colour and an excellent flavour. These sturdy, upright plants produce heavy crops over a long picking season. This RHS AGM variety is ideal for growing in containers. Height: 45cm (18). Spread: 30cm (12)
Kale Dwarf Green Curled produces dark, tightly curled leaves. Excellent quality, very cold hardy, Kale Dwarf Green Curled is good for difficult or windswept gardens or poor wet soils
High quality, round, bright red fleshed roots which do not go woody. Beetroot Wodan has wonderful flavour when freshly cooked, either as 'babybeet or as larger roots. Ideal for pickling. The young leaves can be used as an alternative to spinach. Seeds are in the RHS Vegetable Collection
A main crop variety with round to oval, high quality roots with a dark red colour. The hybrid vigour of Beetroot Red Ace makes it a very strong grower which will do well in most sites and soils; good in dry seasons. Excellent for exhibition. Andrew Tokely says: I find Beetroot Red Ace quick to germinate and it produces good size roots for use in the kitchen or for exhibiting at the local shows and has won many prizes for me. I sow in succession from April-end of June for a continuous supply
Started in heat in late winter Rhubarb 'Glaskins Perpetual' can be harvested lightly the following year. The large, juicy stems are excellent for tarts, pies, jam, and wine. As its name suggests, this reliable rhubarb can be harvested late in the season due to its low oxalic acid content. This easy to grow garden variety will produce some variation in the seedlings ranging from green to pink and even red stemmed plants. Height: 60cm (24). Spread: 120cm (47)
This hardy biennial is one of the most popular herbs for culinary use as a garnish, flavouring sauces and pastry, and associating particularly well with fish. With a stronger flavour than curled varieties, this 'Flat-leaved' or 'Italian' Parsley makes a useful, low maintenance addition to herb gardens, or grow parsley indoors on a bright kitchen windowsill. Height and spread: 45cm (18)
A truly elegant border perennial with blooms in blue, mauve and white on long slender stems which are much in demand for cut flowers. Flowers summer. Height 30in
Onion Feast has long pure white slender stems contrast with the dark green, erect leaves of this outstanding spring onion. Excellent heat and downy mildew tolerance. Onion Feast stands very well, keeping in good condition. Ideal for successional sowing. Seeds are in the RHS Vegetable Collection
A quick maturing variety, Carrot 'Amsterdam Forcing' is ideal for growing early crops under cloches or cold frames. The high quality, small cylindrical roots can be harvested at finger size for deep orange-red carrots with a sweet flavour and virtually no core. For an ongoing supply, sow these fast growing carrots at 14 day intervals through spring and early summer. Height: 30cm (12). Spread: 15cm (6).
Sweetcorn Lark is a tendersweet variety giving superior sweetness with a softer, less chewy texture than supersweets, making kernels more pleasurable to eat as well as easier to digest. Improved germination adds to the appeal. Sweetcorn Lark can be also grown with other varieties, so there is no need to isolate. Requires a fertile soil in a sunny position.
Excellent flavoured, well domed, small beaded heads of good colour. Broccoli Belstar F1 keeps in good condition for a long time, producing plenty of side shoots once the centre head is cut. Plant in succession for summer-autumn harvesting. Andrew Tokely says: I always sow this broccoli early in the year and harvest large tasty heads before they can be attacked by caterpillars. Once the main head is cut, I give the plants a good watering, so over the following weeks and months a secondary crop of tasty smaller spears are produced making this a very worthwhile crop
The first F1 hybrid cylindrical 'HousewivesChoice Beetroot with the sweetest of flavours. Beetroot Alto F1 has uniform, straight roots which have a smooth rich red skin and flesh colour, free from rings making them easy to prepare. Roots stand proud above the soil, but can be earthed up, and remain in good condition for long periods. Beetroot Alto is an easy to grow, space saving variety
Second early. Superb harvests of peas from Pea Jaguar which are abundant with paired pods for extra crops, and with pods averaging 6-7 dark green, tasty peas. An excellent form. Pea Jaguar is quick to harvest and is ideal for successional sowings. Can be sown March-June for cropping June-September. Height: 65-70cm (26-28in).
Pick fresh, tasty peas early in the season with this quality, British bred variety. Enjoy trouble-free, bumper crops of Pea Twinkle thanks to its impressive Pea Wilt resistance and Downy Mildew tolerance. Perfect for successional sowing to give longer cropping period. Plants of Pea Twinkle are self-supporting when grown in blocks. Height: 45-55cm (18-22in)
The bushy plants of Courgette 'Soleil' produce huge yields of smooth, straight, yellow courgettes that are early maturing and fruit over a long period if cut regularly. In trials this superb garden variety showed better tolerance to powdery mildew than many other courgettes, thus extending the harvesting period. This RHS AGM variety has a delicious flavour and will add a bright splash of colour to your plate. Height: 45cm (18). Spread: 90cm (35).
A first for British breeding! This unique 'dual-purposevariety, Summer Ball can be grown as a courgette or as a pumpkin! Compact, bushy plants produce bright-yellow, round fruits which can be cut early as courgettes or left to mature to larger 1kg (2lbs) summer pumpkins. Pumpkin Summer Ball is ideal for growing in containers. Seeds are in the RHS Vegetable Collection
Developed by Dr. Gray of Wellesbourne. A vast improvement on exisiting strains, cropping 1 week earlier and yielding up to 20% more. Sprouting Early Purple Red Arrow Broccoli produces vigorous vitamin rich plants with lots of tender flower buds. An extremely useful and easy to grow, hardy winter vegetable, providing lots of tasty purple heads (which turn green when cooked) during late February/March.
Small, upright yellow-green fruits about 1in. long turning scarlet when ripe. Chili Pepper 'Tabascois extremely hot