Broccoli is certainly a favorite garden crop for many growers . Among the first veggies to go into the spring garden , broccoliproduces an edible crop in as little as 50 days after transplant . While it ’s fun — and delicious!—to grow “ steady ” green Brassica oleracea italica , these five unusual broccoli variety merit a place in your garden , too .
Unusual Broccoli Varieties: 5 Funky Choices
1. Hon Tsai Tai Sprouting Broccoli:
alternatively of producing a big green head of flower buds like traditional broccoli varieties , Hon Tsai Tai sprouting broccoli has small blossom clusters perched atop slim , purple stems . You harvest and eat the entire elongated efflorescence shoot , include the stem and leaves . It ’s much like broccoli raab but has a more delicate grain . Sprouting Brassica oleracea italica produces beautifully in the autumn and even into the winter , so in gain to planting a spring harvest , be sure to plant some in the fall . Also know as Kailaan . ( Brassica rapa var . purpurea Hon Tsai Tai )
2. Te You Flowering Broccoli:
Also bang as Chinese broccoli , this sort is a clear success in our garden . It bring on very tiny bloom clusters and thick , succulent stems . Like the previous selection , with Te You the stems and leave are eaten along with the flower buds . As an impart bonus , it producesedible shootsfairly apace , and the more shoots you glean , the more the industrial plant produces . you may glean from the same saltation planting from mid outflow all the elbow room through early winter . ( Brassica oleracea Te You )
3. Santee Purple Sprouting Broccoli:
This intercrossed purple Brassica oleracea italica ( pictured above ) is also known as purple broccolini . The plants produce quarter - sized clusters of purple flowers . These mini Brassica oleracea italica spears are lush and toothsome , and oh so passably ! The plant are said to winter quite well with the moderate protection of acold frame , eminent tunnel , or mini hoop house . Though it takes a long time of year to produce this Brassica oleracea italica form ( 90 - 100 day ) , it ’s well deserving it . ( Brassica oleracea var . italica Santee )
4. Apollo Broccoli:
This cool broccoli variety does produce a main head of broccoli , just like more traditional varieties do , but what makes Apollo so special is it ’s lovesome side shoot . These shoots are incredibly fertile and their tender stem turn are n’t the least bit sinewy , make them a very elegant side dish antenna . The flavor is mellifluous . ( Brassica oleracea Apollo )
5. Purple Peacock Broccoli cross:
This incredible Brassica oleracea italica is in reality a interbreeding withkale . It grow loose spikes of purple flower bud that are wreathe by ruffled unripe leaves with majestic stems . When young , the sprouts are crank and delicious , and as the flora age , the shoot grow as sweet as Robert Lee Frost - kiss kale . Shoots are produced continually throughout the growing season , and the cold - tolerant nature of this smorgasbord means you ’ll be glean well into the fall as well . ( Brassica oleracea var . italica Purple Peacock ) .
If you have a hankering to try something new in this twelvemonth ’s garden , these unusual broccoli varieties will fit the banker’s bill . They ’ll fill your garden with beauty and your dinner shell with relish for months on closing .
