Lettuce – the new dahlia!
You’d never think lettuce could be so colourful. But down on the trials field at the Royal Horticultural Society’s garden at Wisley in Surrey, 49 different cos lettuces are being grown side by side and some of them are as colourful as dahlias.
The whole trial makes a very attractive display. Beautifully grown, as ever, by the Wisley trials team the fresh bright green of those varieties in the more familiar style sets off those with red, bronze, copper or speckled leaves beautifully. Many will more than hold their own in the border with summer flowers.
Top choices? Well, at this stage ‘Freckles’, with fresh green leaves speckled in red freckles, looks very pretty while for more vivid colour the rich red ‘Rosemoor’ looks outstanding. It’s just about the same colour as the dahlia in the bouquet a friend brought to our party last week.
You can find out more about this trial here.
Hi Graham,
Do you think any of those lovely lettuces would grow here in Downeast Maine?? going to plant some in the raised bed, since lettuce seems to like the fog better than anybody else!
Kathi
Posted by: kathi | June 04, 2007 at 12:47 PM
I'm sure they would do well up there - the difficulty might be getting hold of seed of the most colourful varieties. You might have to get them by mail from Thompson & Morgan Seeds (http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/us/) or Johnny's Selected Seeds (http://www.johnnyseeds.com/).
Posted by: Graham Rice | June 04, 2007 at 01:16 PM
I've seen the 'Freckles' lettuce (a type of romaine, if I'm not mistaken) in our garden centers this spring alongside some heirloom/unusual veggies. If the 'Rosemoor' was offered alongside it, I wouldn't have been able to resist buying that one. Wow.
Posted by: Kim | June 07, 2007 at 11:45 PM