southern exposure

This 1934 All-America Selections winner is a classic escarole with large, broad, dark-green outer leaves enclosing round, deep 12–16 inch heads tha...

This looseleaf variety produces very attractive large oakleaf-shaped leaves with reddish-brown tips. It offers high yields, cut-and-come-again harv...

Bronze Fennel is a decorative fennel with beautiful lacy bronze leaves, useful as an ornamental as well as a culinary sweet fennel. Medicinally, fe...

Introduced in 1759 from India, Bull Nose (Capsicum annuum) is a historic sweet pepper with thick-walled, 3 × 4 inch, 4-lobed fruits borne on tall, ...

Bull's Blood is best known for its mild, dark leaves, typically harvested young for vibrant salad mixes even before the roots fully mature. The lea...

Burgundy Okra is an All-America Selections winner with deep red-maroon stems, leaf veins, and pods on 4–6 foot plants. The spineless pods grow up t...

With seedstock courtesy of Hap Heilman, this variety begins producing pods when plants reach just 18 inches tall and continues until frost, with la...

A reliable variety for garden, market, and greenhouse use, Buttercrunch produces dark green leaves and compact heads with good bolt resistance. It ...

The Burgess strain of Buttercup, dating to 1932, is noted for its thick, fine-grained flesh and excellent flavor, producing flattened turban-shaped...

A local favorite in Cajun country since the 1950s and introduced in 1989 by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, this dwarf-type variety grows 2-1/2 to...

An Italian heirloom selected by Italian gardeners and introduced to the seed trade between 1914 and 1918, Calabrese Green Sprouting broccoli produc...

Pacific Beauty Calendula produces bright yellow-orange flowers about 3 inches across that are used as a food colorant, natural dye, and substitute ...

Introduced in 1928, this widely adapted variety is well-known and preferred by many market growers and gardeners. A smooth, blocky, mostly four-lob...

Tasty, quick-growing, self-sowing hot-weather greens popular throughout the African diaspora and in Asian cuisines, where the abundant leaves are u...

This Dutch variety was judged the best Boston-type lettuce in the 1983 Rodale Research Center trials, with excellent heat and cold tolerance plus r...

This Carolina-bred broadleaf mustard was developed to provide the bacterial blight resistance that the older Florida Broadleaf type lacks. Plants g...

The best nematode-resistant bell pepper for home gardeners, Carolina Wonder produces foliage, fruits, and yields very similar to California Wonder,...

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) is a mint-family herb useful for teas — and for entertaining cats, though only about two out of three cats carry the domina...

Two to three times hotter than regular cayennes, this variety produces heavy yields of 1 by 5 inch fruits, larger than most cayenne peppers. Plants...

A fiery, red-hot seasoning pepper, the Cayenne Long Red produces fruits that grow to about ½ x 3–5 inches and can be used fresh or dried, making th...

Celosia Tall Menagerie Mix was selected for an exceptional diversity of bloom color and shape, offering pastel pink, burgundy, peach, hot pink, cor...

A Vates-type collard developed by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, Champion features increased bolt-resistance, darker blue-green foli...

Introduced from France in the late 1800s, Chantenay Red Core is a blocky, broad-shouldered variety with a blunt tip, about 5½ inches long and 2½ in...

This rainbow-colored Cherokee Long Ear Small popcorn, a blend of several strains passed down through generations, offers both beauty and flavor. It...

Cherokee Purple is a pre-1890 Tennessee heirloom reportedly of Cherokee origin, introduced by SESE in 1993, and included in Slow Food USA's Ark of ...

An All-America Selections winner from 1949, Cherry Belle produces round roots with bright red skin and firm white flesh. It is somewhat less suscep...

This ornamental hot pepper features a striking range of fruit colors that transition from purple to creamy yellow, yellow, orange, and red, all at ...

This Italian heirloom, cultivated since before 1840, features beautiful scarlet-red skin with interior rings of reddish-pink and white, creating a ...

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) can be grown indoors or outdoors for year-round onion flavoring, and the chopped leaves and young flowers make a flav...

Cinnamon Basil has a delightful spicy cinnamon fragrance, making it perfect for use in tea or potpourri. Its aromatic qualities make it a lovely an...

Large fruits up to 2½ inches — about the size of a golf ball — make this tomatillo easy to harvest and process, and the plants are highly productiv...

Clemson Spineless is a classic All-America Selections winner producing 4–7 foot plants with few side-branches and ribbed pods up to 8 inches long. ...

Queen Mix cleome (Cleome spinosa) produces pink, rose, and purple flowers with many side blooms, attracting bumblebees and hummingbirds throughout ...

Cocozelle is a pre-1934 Italian zucchini with long, cylindrical fruits that are dark green with light-green stripes when young and turn yellow at m...

Common sage is best known as a flavoring for meats, dressings, and sauces, its aromatic silvery-green leaves adding depth and complexity to culinar...

Also known as Big Tom or Yankee Cow Pumpkin, this pre-1700 cultivar of Native American origin remains one of the most popular varieties for large H...

Developed in 1949 by SC/AES and possibly originating from the pre-1855 Early Valentine variety, this cultivar is celebrated as a premier early gree...

Cilantro (Coriander sativum) is a versatile herb widely used in cuisines from around the world, with every part of the plant — leaves, roots, flowe...

For the first few hundred years of managed cultivation, carrots were predominantly purple, and Cosmic Purple celebrates that heritage with purple-s...

Cosmo is a romaine variety producing tall 12-inch heads of vibrant green, broad, savoyed leaves that are crisp and sweet, staying bitter-free longe...

Cosmos Memories of Mona is an extremely hardy, drought-resistant cosmos introduced in 1998 by SESE as a red selection of Mona's Orange, developed a...

Cosmos Mona's Orange, introduced in 1990 by SESE from a family heirloom originating in southern California, produces radiant orange, mostly single-...

Cosmos Sea Shells Mix (Cosmos bipinnatus) is distinguished by its uniquely rolled and ruffled petals in mixed shades of red, pink, and white that g...

Sensation Mix is one of the earliest cosmos varieties, producing large single flowers in a mixture of white, pink, and purple on tall 4–5 foot plan...

These bite-sized fruits, ranging from 3/8 to 5/8 inches, have a delicious flavor reminiscent of pineapple and ripen to a vibrant pineapple yellow. ...

Costata Romanesca is an Italian heirloom zucchini favored for its exceptional flavor, with heavily ribbed fruits striped in alternating light and d...

This Texas heirloom, brought from Oklahoma by Marshall Crawford's family, is a fast-growing bibb lettuce known for its great flavor and exceptional...

Crimson Sweet, released in 1964, is a medium-sized striped melon typically weighing 23–27 pounds with great-tasting flesh and notable tolerance to ...