February

Radish 'Long White Icicle' is a uniform strain which forms long, pure snow-white roots. The white flesh is crisp and mild and less pungent than that of the round varieties, they have a spice that warms the tongue, but doesn’t bite back. Very easy to grow and ready for harvest only 25 days after planting,

Quick to grow and beautiful to look at, Radish 'Rainbow Mixed' is a visually stunning selection of coloured-skinned radishes. A very exciting sight to see when picked and an excellent choice for salads and gourmet dishes.

Not your average radish, Radish ‘Viola’ is one of the jewels of veg patch. This dramatic, magenta-skinned variety is quick to mature and makes a delightful presentation on the plate. High yielding in limited space, they can be grown wherever there is sun and moist, fertile soil, even on the smallest city lot.

Radish 'White Hailstone' is a brilliant white, sweet, white globe radish. Especially crisp, tender and with a mild flavour that keeps well once pulled. not too spicy and stay mild even as they grow larger.

Radish ‘China Rose’ is a traditional winter hardy variety that produces long, tapering roots with attractive rosy pink skins and crisp, pure white flesh. Its cylindrical roots grow 15 to 20cm long and add flavour to winter salads. The leaves can also be added to salads and stir fries.

Glaskin's Perpetual was first raised in Brighton and produces large, long stemmed, bright red stalks which are juicy and hold good flavour. Very reliable and quick to establish, it is the only rhubarb that can be harvested late in the season (hence the "Perpetual"). Excellent for tarts, pies, jam, wine, forcing etc.

Rhubarb Victoria was introduced by Joseph Myatt of Deptford in 1837. It is one of the easiest to raise from seed and can usually start to be harvested one year after sowing. It produces sweet, juicy, medium sized green stalks with green-red leaves. A popular forcing variety being extremely productive for years.

Relatively unknown to our shores, Rocket ‘Olive Leaf’ is an excellent selection of the traditional Italian olive leaf wild rocket. With a beautiful light green colour and smooth shape similar to an olive leaf, this perennial form has a distinctive aroma and flavour that is more subtle than the usual wild rockets.

Sanguisorba officinalis is a native of Europe and an old-world herb that is currently enjoying a resurgence in popularity thanks to the revival of interest in perennial gardens and naturalised form of planting. Perfect for natural style planting schemes, it looks right at home in a swaying sea of grasses.

Satureia montana ssp. citriodora is a lemon-scented variety of Winter Savory from the Apennine mountains. The small perennial shrubs are semi-evergreen, they retain their aromatic, lemon scented leaves in all but the coldest gardens and remain useful all year round.

Summer savory 'Midget' is a compact variety, this fast-growing annual provides an abundant supply of leaves, growing quickly to a height of about 25cm. With slender bronze green leaves and rose-white tubular flowers which bloom from July to September.

Winter savory, the perennial savory has the same properties as its summer relative Summer savory, although it has a heavier aroma and a sharper pine type flavour. The small perennial shrubs are semi-evergreen, retaining their leaves in all but the coldest gardens and remain useful all year round.

Shallot 'Zebrune' is a heritage variety that has recently been revived. It is very productive and has good resistance to bolting. Torpedo shaped, with superbly coloured pinky-brown skin this type are often called ‘banana’ shallots in the cookbooks, they are increasing in popularity for gourmet cooking.

Blocky, deeply ribbed and extremely bumpy, for most of the season they are a gorgeous dark green to charcoal black, but in autumn 'Futtsu Black Early' mature in a fascinating metamorphosis, to a grey-bloomed dusty orange. Harvest in the midst of their transformation for funky autumn displays or wait for them to ripen completely for maximum flavour, nutty and sweet with hints of chestnut.

This very old Italian Heirloom rustic variety originates from near Venice and is considered the King of Italian Squashes. Round, short, and squat in shape, the dark green to grey-blue skin has slight, vertical ridging and is almost completely covered in bumps. When cooked, Marina di Chioggia squash is tender and sweet with nutty flavours.

This wonderful heritage variety of alpine Strawberry produces loads of little red strawberries that are bursting with flavour. Much sweeter than their traditional commercial cousins they possess a fine, old fashioned flavour. Plants have compact growth with few runners. An alpine Strawberry that is very hard to find, excellent for high altitude climates!

The European woodland strawberry is the old fashioned wild strawberry once widely grown in gardens. Called 'Fraises des Bois' meaning literally Strawberries of the Forest, the compact plants give a good yield of small, intensely sweet little berries. A burst of true, scrumptious Strawberry that puts the taste of many bigger berries to shame.

Artemisia annua, commonly called Sweet Annie is a graceful annual with tall stems with fine bright green ferny foliage. With sweetly fragrant foliage it has a wide variety of uses both medicinal and for handcrafting but is most often grown for fresh and dried arrangements.

Tatsoi or Rosette Pak Choi is among the most popular of oriental greens and one of the best vegetables to grow in a cool climate. The spoon-shaped, evenly spaced leaves form a plant worthy to be grown for its decorative value alone. Given enough room the plants will form beautiful wide rosettes of regular, concentric circles.