Annuals For Sale - Spring 2011

Summer annual, grows to 3 feet. Flowers can be used fresh or dried for tea. Very ornamental.

Attractive, stocky plant with a warm spicy, cinnamon-like aroma and a flavor with a hint of cloves. It has purplish venation on the leaves and dark rose-colored blooms. Vigorous plants – hardier than other basils. Makes a fine jelly and is good in fruit salads, sweet-and-sour dishes, chicken marinades and other dishes where a sweet spicy flavor is desired.

An heirloom from Eritrea which grows 24-30 inches tall. Plants have beautiful purple-tinged foliage and stunning flowers. It has a strongly attractive and spicy odor, and is much used in African cuisine.

This variety is the same as Bush Basil.

Attractive bushy plant. Height 6 to 9 inches. Compact umbrella-shaped form. Leaves ¼ to ½ inch long. Extremely strong sweet basil scent – good for all culinary uses. Typically grown in Greek homes and restaurants in pots and window boxes. Excellent for border edgings.

A revered herb of the Hindu tradition, also know as sacred basil or tulsi. An immune system stimulating tea herb as well as a beautiful ornamental. Fuzzy 2-inch leaves have a uniquely pleasant aroma.

Large plant with medium-dark green leaves up to 4 inches long. Compared to Genovese, the scent and taste are sweeter and less clove-like. Height 24 to 30 inches.

A unique lime-flavored basil from Thailand. Small leafed compact plant. Height 16 to 20 inches.

A pure strain that has been grown for over 60 years in Southern New Mexico. Many people consider this cultivar far superior to the more common sweet basil. Fine for all culinary uses: in pestos, salads and soups.

The darkest of all purple basils.  It has deep purple leaves and flowers.  A gorgeous contrast when inter-planted with green basils.  It has a mild hint of mint along with its subtle basil taste.

Vigorous, purple Italian large leaf type. High yields and great flavor. Large flat leaves stand out horizontally and are a copper-tinged purple color. Height 18 to 24 inches.

Spicy anise clove scent and flavor. Most commonly used in Thai or Vietnamese cooking. Attractive plants are 12 to 18 inches tall with medium-green leaves. Stems and blossoms are purple. Very good for planting in containers.

Compact 2 to 3-foot plant produces 8-inch central head. After central head is cut, many side shoots follow. Very early, 60 to 90 days from transplant. Heirloom variety.

Large drumhead-type with finely crinkled, savoyed leaves on compact, short-stemmed plants. Mild and sweet flavor; good keeper. Heirloom introduced before 1888.

A stunning apricot-shaded selection from the Pacific Beauty series.

Radio calendula was introduced to gardeners in the 1930’s and is now quite hard to find.  Beautiful orange flowers have quill-like petals.  Blooms all summer and winter long, is 18-24 inches tall, and is self-sowing.

A very elegant calendula.  The light pink petals with a touch of yellow on the outermost tips and maroon undersides give these flowers a softer, more gentle look than the bright orange and yellow hues of most calendula.

Leaves are smaller and more flavorful than regular celery. Used for seasoning soups and stews. Plants are 2 feet tall with slender, yellowish-green stalks and leaves.

Heading collard with dark green, savoyed leaves, similar to Morris Heading, but leaf is much larger--up to 3 feet across. Great for sauerkraut.

Heirloom variety dating from 1880.  Plants produce heavy yields of small 6 inch long cucumbers, perfect for pickling.

Introduced in 1910 by Jerome Rice Seed Co. of Cambridge, New York, who described it as the earliest and best white spined cucumber ever offered. Fruits are 7 to 8 inches long by 2 inches in diameter. 

Heirloom introduced in 1894 in Pennsylvania.  Similar in size and appearance to a lemon, averaging 2 inches by 3 inches.  Once a well-established market variety in Australia.

Fruits are light green with darker striped ribs. Curls into snakelike shapes and can grow around 15 inches. Mild, delicious fruit are not a true cucumber but a melon. Originated in Armenia.

Uniform, straight, deep-green fruit, 8 inches long, 2 to 2 ½ inches in diameter. Well rounded at ends, white spined. Excellent for slicing, used for pickling when small. Vigorous, productive vine. Popular home garden cultivar. All American Selection winner in 1935.

Smooth, straight dark green fruit up to 18 inches long. Flesh is very crisp, tender and mild—superb flavor! Very few seeds. Vigorous, high yielding vines. Excellent English variety.

Long, slender lavender to purple fruits, up to 12 inches long, hang in clusters. Plants stand up well to heat and humidity. A Taiwanese heirloom which can produce up to 20 fruit per plant.

Can be made into small wren houses or purple martin houses or other whimsical objects.  Bottle neck shape 12 inches tall and 6 to 8 inches wide.  Vine will sprawl up to 25 feet.

Used in Peru for carving decorative bowls.  Produces attractive, round, flattened gourds 3 ½ to 5 inches deep and 6 to 12 inches in diameter.  Pleasingly proportioned.

An amazing gourd collection made up of small to medium-sized gourds coming in various solid and speckled, vibrant colors in a multitude of shapes:  stars, wings, acorns, mushrooms, necks, and more.

Also known as Dinosaur gourd.  Bizarre and wonderful, it looks like some disturbing alien weapon.  Originally from Zimbabwe, and used to make shekeres, a kind of musical instrument.

Gourds shaped like a penguin – great for craft people! 5 inches in diameter and 12 inches long.

Gourds grow up to four feet long and 8 inches around. Light green mottled skin. Great conversation piece.

An OAEC selection. A highly dissected Russian Red Kale which has the appearance of a blue-green frisee. So incredibly tender that it can be used raw in salads. Extraordinarily beautiful.

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A fabulous cross between Redbor and Lacinato kales with frilly green leaves overlaid with hues of red, purple, and blue-green. Very vigorous and cold-hardy.

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French heirloom with truly bluish leaves turning violet after a cold spell. Grown in OAEC's gardens since the mid 80's. Very large and sweet medium-long shaft. 100 to 120 days from transplant. Holds well in winter, but does beautifully all year round.

Good early Butterhead with small compact heads. Very beautiful! Grown in the OAEC gardens since 1992.

Beautiful medium-sized green Boston-type Butterhead lettuce. Tight heads with buttery central leaves. Very rare variety, introduced to the U.S. by pioneering seed company Le Marché in the early 80's and grown in OAEC's gardens for 30 years.

Dark red, wavy leaves with sprinkles of yellow-green. Beautiful! Good taste. Virtually unavailable through any seed company, this beauty has been seed saved in OAEC’s gardens since 1992.

Compact buttery heads of puckered, emerald-green, oak-shaped leaves with a shock of brilliant maroon speckles.  Crisp tender crunchy texture with sweet buttery flavor.  A Frank Morton variety.

A heat-resistant Romaine from Israel with large, dense, medium-green heads 12 to 14 inches tall. Very crunchy texture.

Italian heirloom with full heart and lime-green tasty leaves. Three distinct leaf types fill out this loose, mild-tasting 8-inch rosette. Good in salad mixes. Works very well in the fall or spring. Another OAEC favorite, this variety was given to Doug Gosling in 1992 by the Seed Savers Exchange.

A gorgeous speckled summer crisp/Batavia type lettuce.  Plants are medium-sized and upright.  Great flavor. Bright red speckles!

Loose upright heads with red on all light-exposed parts, blanching lime-green in the heart. Leaves are thick and rumpled all over. Crunchy salad lettuce—very sweet. Productive. An original variety created by pioneering seed company Wild Garden Seed in Philomath, Oregon.

A tasty romaine type.   Uniform heads are pale-green inside,  and the outside is dark green.  Developed around 1949, named after Parris Island, off the East Coast. 

Slow-bolting variety. Dark green deeply-cut pointed lacy leaves. Medium to dark-green crisp heart and crunchy texture. Very succulent and sweet taste. A favorite of Doug Gosling's since 1982.

Mennonite variety from 1799. Incredibly beautiful bright heads covered with red speckling. A favorite of OAEC’s garden since the early 80’s, and first given to Doug Gosling by David Cavagnaro, the Seed Savers Exchange’s first garden manager.

Treasured as the oldest American lettuce still available. This diminutive and adorable Butterhead is perfect for small gardens or for children’s gardens. Miniature English heirloom 4 to 6 inches across. Ruffled juicy leaves.  Enough lettuce for one salad! Can be served whole. An OAEC favorite.

Red-tinged leaves form loose heads that can measure 12 inches across. Solid lime-green interior. Excellent mild buttery flavor. First given to Doug Gosling by the Seed Savers Exchange in 1992 and grown in our gardens ever since.

Sometimes called Peruvian Black Mint (Tagetes minuta) this herb is central to much Andean cooking in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile. It is a tall (up to 4 feet) upright marigold with a taste like a mixture of basil, tarragon, mint and citrus. Huacatay paste is used to make the popular potato dish called ocopa. It has been used as a medicinal tea for colds, respiratory inflammations, and stomach problems.

The famous California heirloom, introduced in 1920 by Oliver Crane whose family has been farming near Santa Rosa for six generations. Delicious Crenshaw-type melons have pale orange flesh that is very sweet and fine flavored. Green skinned. Fruit 4 lbs.

A famous superb heirloom French melon. Super sweet and very fragrant. Very small melon.

Beautiful ivory-green fruit with very sweet flesh and classic honeydew flavor! A superb variety.

Well-netted, 3-lb. fruit with thick salmon-colored flesh. Sweet and of superb flavor. A good home and market variety. Resistant to powdery mildew.

Heavily curled, frilly bright green leaves great for salad mix or full-sized bunches.   Mustardy hot taste mellows when cooked.  Slow to bolt. 

Produces fine salad greens when young. Leaves are long, narrow, deeply cut, and ruffled. Quite beautiful! A favorite heirloom from the American South.

An OAEC original, developed by Doug Gosling, as featured in our 2005 catalogue. A sharply-toothed cross between Old Fashioned Ragged Edge and Red Giant mustards.

Also spelled “Texcel” or “Texsel,” this Ethiopian mustard is tasty, nutritious, and high in vitamin C. Plants are quick growing. Young, tender, buttery leaves, with a pleasant mild cabbage flavor, are ideal for salads or stir-frys.

Deep, bright, golden yellow flowers held upward above the foliage. Height 10 inches. A great basket plant.

Slender yellowish-orange fruits up to 4 inches long, tapered on both ends. Very hot, but flavorful. Plants bushy, up to 3 ½ feet tall. Very productive.

A tasty, Eastern European frying pepper. Its smooth, 4-inch long by 2 inches wide, tapered, pointed fruits are pale yellow and ripen red. The plants yield early and heavily. Jan Antohi, a Romanian acrobat who defected to the US in 1991, brought this heirloom from Romania.

Like a regular jalapeno but fruits ripen to a golden yellow and more of a sweetness than jalapeno. 70 days. 

Fiery hot crimson cayenne peppers, 4 to 6  inches by 1 inch which are wrinkled and twisted. 20 to 30 inch, very productive bush. 70 to 75 days.

Completely delicious pepper from Spain, named after the town where they originate.  Peppers are harvested when they are 1 – 1 ½ inches long.  One out of twenty peppers will be hot and the rest are mild. Padrones are served sautéed in olive oil and sea salt, and are eaten as tapas in Spain.

Exceptionally ornamental. Two-foot plants covered with many purple blossoms which turn into dark purple, thin peppers about 3 inches long. Very hot!!

A favorite old Japanese variety which produces 3 inch long, slightly wrinkled fruit that are wonderful for making tempura and other traditional recipes.  Fruit is emerald green color, mildly flavored with just a bit of spice. 

A very tasty mild Jalapeno type with the same delicious flavor, but a lot less heat. Great yields.

Slightly pale orange flesh up to 5 inches thick.  Can weigh up to 60 to 80 lbs.  Moist flesh, great for making pies and for freezing.

Traditional field pumpkin from New England, mainly used for carving.  History goes back to 200 years.  10–18 inches by 10–14 inches diameter.  Mild, sweet flavor.

Slate blue-gray 6 to 10 lb. pumpkins of superb quality. Shape is flat, ribbed and very decorative. Good keeper. Australian heirloom.

Italian heirloom.  Very large and gray-green turban type with ridges, bumpy skin and yellow flesh. Weighs 5 to 10 lbs. each. Great for pies.

Heirloom from the late 19th century. Orange fruit weighing 4 to 5 lbs. Fine, sweet flesh that is superb for pies.

The whitest pumpkin. Medium-sized, flattened 11 to 15 inch diameter. Slightly ribbed with smooth white skin. Larger than Lumina. Thick orange flesh great for pies.

Popular salad green with a pungent, spicy taste, almost reminiscent of hazelnuts. Sometimes called rocket or roquette. Can be made into a yummy pesto, and its buds and flowers can be used as a sweet salad ingredient or garnish.

Sometimes called Kyona. A very mild salad green and a main ingredient of many salad mixes. Also a delicious saute green. Traditionally a pickling vegetable in Japan. Will size up to 10-12 inches across if given proper spacing.

An old favorite Japanese bunching type. Looks like a long slender leek. Sweet and mild flavor – tasty!

Famous Roman zucchini. Distinctive long fruit are fluted and ribbed—the cut slices are scalloped. Medium green striped skin. Rich and very flavorful, popular to fry with the flower still on.

The size, shape, and color of a lemon. Huge yields and very insect-resistant. Very tasty—great fried.

Rich dark green, round-shaped, and very flavorful. Vigorous plants produce well. Italian heirloom.

Bush plants produce extended crops of smooth light-yellow fruits with curved necks. Best eaten 5 to 6 inch long. Creamy-white sweet mild flesh has excellent flavor.

A large, good quality sunflower with orange/yellow petals and a dark, pollen-free disc. The classic sunflower depicted in Van Gogh’s famous sunflower paintings.

Beautiful double 3 to 6 inch golden-yellow blooms.  Great for cut flowers.  A favorite with children.  Plants grow only 18 to 24 inches tall.

Original selection of heirloom varieties from Australia with white, lemon yellow, orange, red and pink colored midribs with green leaves. Very tasty. Cold tolerant. Incredibly beautiful ornamental food crop.

Neon, hot-pink chard – incredibly striking. Great picked young for salad or larger for braising.

Rare heirloom variety. Prolific and productive. Small fruit, 1 to 1 ½ inches, with dark purple skin in paper husks. Sharper flavor than green tomatillos. Very sweet—makes an attractive purple salsa.

Medium-sized, good in cool areas. Potato-leafed variety. Alan Chadwick’s favorite red tomato variety.

Red cherry, very sweet, large size. Indeterminate. Named after the famous English gardener.

Pale pink, very productive.  Indeterminate.

This Russian variety produces fruits which tend to be misshapen, but their deliciousness more than makes up for their looks. The big, purplish-brown fruit have a rich, sweet, savory taste, great for fresh eating.

A large, globe shaped, purple-black fruit weighing 6-14 ournces.  Highly productive vines which ripen early in the season.  Has a fantastic taste with the perfect balance of acidity and sweetness.

This fine Russian variety is a beautiful, deep chocolate brown grape tomato with a sweet, rich, dark tomato taste. Very productive even in hot conditions.

Dark brown tomatoes are shaped like miniature pears and flavored with an excellent, rich taste. Potato-leafed plants produce an abundance of these beautiful 4- to 6-oz. fruit. Heirloom. Great as a fresh salad tomato.

Small,dark red-brown fruit with subtle striping. Great flavor.Indeterminate.

Indeterminate plants produce copious amounts of 12-ounce pink-black heart-shaped tomatoes.  Exceptionally rich, sweet complex flavors, typical of the best of the black tomatoes.  A good producer in cooler regions, as well as warm ones.

An absolute OAEC favorite. Gorgeous small mahogany fruit with sublime flavor. Extremely productive.

Brown-colored, three-lobed, medium-sized fruit with green streaks and almost hollow core.

A variety of heirloom tomato created from the Cherokee Chocolate variety by collector Craig Le Houllier in 1997. Plants produce large, 12-16 oz beefsteak tomatoes that are amber green with a yellowish hue when ripe. This is one of the best tasting, most flavorful of all the green tomatoes.

An unusual heirloom grown by the Amish since the 1930’s.  Huge golden-yellow beefsteak tomatoes have a delicious fruity flavor with few seeds.  1 to 2 pound fruit mature earlier than some others of its type, and may feature a pink blush on the blossom end.  Very vigorous plants.

This excellent red slicing tomato was bred especially for French markets where flavor standards are exceptionally high. This beautiful, slightly flattened tomato has a great sweet/acid balance that few modern tomatoes can match. The plants produce 6 oz. juicy fruits that are meaty and deep red in hue. Good disease resistance.

Heirloom from New Zealand which produces attractive, orange, 2-3-inch globes, which are smooth-textured, sweet and tangy. Fruits are resistant to cracking, blossom end rot, and fruit diseases

Heirloomfrom the Black Sea of Russia. One of the best blacks. Plum-shaped6-oz. fruits.

Very large, oxheart shape. Superb taste. A favorite of many.

Large beefsteak. Ivory with pink stripes. Divine flavor and creamy texture. Very beautiful!

Named for the Gypsies who live in Russia, this soviet heirloom is one of the deepest purple, maroon tomatoes ever!  It has a gorgeous color and great taste.  Perfect, medium sized globe-shaped fruit.

A reliable, early-maturing, standard processing tomato that matures loads of fruit all at the same time. A very dependable producer even in cold or coastal areas—great for canning. Very firm and flavorful 3-4 oz. fruits on compact, upright determinate plants.

Vine can grow up to 15 feet tall! Needs to be trellised. Produces enormous yields – up to 3 bushels per plant. Tomatoes are rich red, meaty, and large.

As bright as orange juice and nearly as sweet and flavorful. Huge fruit easily attain 4-5 inches. Strong indeterminate plant.

Bright yellow 4- to 5-oz. beefsteak. Very productive. Fantastic flavor.

A beautiful, egg-shaped tomato decorated with mottled pink skin. Inside it has a deep pink color and a sweet fresh flavor. The fruits are elongate cherry tomatoes produced in long tresses. Has attractive, lacy foliage.

The favorite red variety of Janet Brown, Marin County tomato-grower extraordinaire. She got this variety from Maria Dondero, an elderly Italian gardener neighbor and friend who brought it over from the Old Country and grew it for 50 years. Very early!

Heirloom from the Black Forest regions of Germany. Very productive plants yield large, 14-16 oz., slightly flattened, bright red beefsteak tomatoes with an outstanding full flavor of juicy sweetness. Great for sandwiches.

A very rare tomato which produces delicious one-pound uniform fruit that are dark purplish-pink in color with green shoulders.  Very productive.

Germanheirloom. Baseball-sized black fruit with excellent, full flavor.Very productive and blemish-free.

Big, up to one pound, lemon-yellow fruit are a delightful heart shape.  The flesh is smooth and creamy and has a nicely balanced sweet taste.  Very productive.

Black flesh,sublime earthy taste. Many people report that this is their favorite blacktomato.

Medium-sized fruit are very flavorful and rich. Nicely shaped, deep dark black-red in color. Certainly one of the tastiest black tomatoes you’ll ever eat!

Bright, canary-yellow 3-inch fruit looks just like a fresh lemon! Collected by Kent Whealy of the Seed Savers Exchange from an elderly seedsman at the Bird Market in Moscow. Delicious, sweet taste.

Small tomato from the Punta Banda Peninsula in Baja, California. Very productive. Great variety for dry farming. Great for making paste and for drying. Very productive!

Beauteous, ribbed fruit. Old Italian heirloom. Great flavor. Very rare.

A great choice for container gardening. The red fruit is tiny, and so is the plant – the plant is only a foot tall and is loaded with flavorful red fruit the size of marbles.

Russian heirloom variety with potato-leafed foliage. Bears blackish-redbeefsteak fruit that are sweet yet acidic, with a rich and complexflavor.

Early, tasty, potato-leafed, from Czechoslovakia. Good in cool weather.

Large, early tomato. Thick-skinned, fleshy 6- to 8-oz. fruit.

Rare tomato from Iraqui seed collector Aziz Nail. Medium-sized fruit are very flavorful, red and flattened in shape. Great fresh or dried.

Greek heirloom with wonderful mild flavor – will take you back to those fabulous fresh tomato salads you so adored in sunny Greece. Nicely uniform baseball-sized fruit.

A fantastic cross between Black Krim and Zapotec Pink Pleated tomatoes.  Large indeterminate plants yield gorgeous 8 – 10 ounce brilliant garnet purple pleated fruit.  Sweet, meaty, well-balanced flavor – one of the best tasting of the black varieties.  Makes a great purple tomato sauce.

Named for the beautiful yellow Topaz stone, this Chinese introduction is a sparkling yellow 1 to 3 ounce fruit with golden speckles.  Mild tasting and firm, it is great for shucking and salads.

Heirloom introduced in 1882 by A.W. Livingston. A favorite white variety of many collectors, these 6 to 8 oz. creamy white fruits have the best flavors of all tomatoes, being fragrant, fruity and intensely sweet. Very productive.

Stunning lemon-yellow lobed fruit which are particularly beautiful sliced in cross-section. Lemony, subtle taste.

A very rare Iraqui variety which produces abundant yields of 12-30 pound melons with a hard, light green rind. The flavor is superb, very sweet and crisp. A favorite of Dr. Amy Goldman, featured in her book, Melons for the Passionate Grower. Plants are large, vigorous, and give heavy yields.

Introduced in 1959. The product of a cross between New Hampshire Midget and Pumpkin Rind. Entire plant and fruits turn golden yellow when ripe. Salmon pink flesh is pleasantly sweet. Black seeded. Very early.

Beautiful deep orange flesh. Very sweet, almost tropical flavor – one of the best! High yields. Very resistant to wilt and insects. Strong healthy vines.

The #1 icebox sized melon! Early 6 to 10 lb. melons great for cooler areas and have sweet deep red flesh.

A smaller version of Blue Hubbard with a blue-gray, teardrop-shaped 3- to 6-lb. fruit. Sweet, deep orange flesh.

Heirloom introduced in 1894 and prized for its wonderfully sweet orange yellow flesh and striped edible skin. Many people’s favorite squash, and kids love it!

Variety is about 100 years old. Large, pink, banana-shaped fruit can weigh 10 to 40 lbs. Fine-flavored, dry, sweet orange flesh. Great yields.

Very beautiful red-orange teardrop shaped Japanese squash.  Very sweet - great for pies and baking. Also known as Orange Hokkaido.

Introduced by the Iowa Seed Company in 1913. The Arikara tribe grew a similar heart-shaped squash, and this variety is believed to have been developed from the Arikara strain. Typical dark green acorn. Deep orange flesh is sweet, dry, thick, and great for baking. Vines grow 6 to 8 feet long. Good keeper.

Also known as Triangle, Tristar or Shamrock. Extremely rare and unique heirloom from Australia. Unusual three-lobed slate gray fruit with very thick flesh. An excellent quality vegetable or pie squash.