100 seeds01
Iceberg Lettuce
Iceberg is a crisphead lettuce: its tightly packed leaves stay crunchy longer than softer butterhead types.
See growing guides →Curious seeds for curious growers
Every packet has
a little story.
From carrots shaped for Parisian soil to tomatoes named for giant bunches of grapes—here are 69 quick facts from across the NoctiSeeds range.
↓Salads & leaves
12 small stories
Approx. 100 seeds02
Chicory Rossa di Verona
Radicchio’s deep red colour comes from anthocyanin pigments that often intensify as temperatures fall.
See growing guides →100 seeds03
Chicory Rossa di Treviso Precoce
Treviso radicchio is named for the Italian city and is prized for leaves that balance bitterness with sweetness when cooked.
See growing guides →100 seeds04
Fennel Sweet Florence
The so-called bulb is not a root—it is made from the swollen bases of overlapping leaf stalks.
See growing guides →100 seeds05
Lettuce Buttercrunch
Buttercrunch combines soft, buttery outer leaves with a surprisingly crisp inner heart.
See growing guides →100 seeds06
Lettuce Little Gem
Little Gem is a miniature cos lettuce, producing the crunch of romaine in a single-serving head.
See growing guides →100 seeds07
Lettuce Winter Arctic King
Arctic King is bred to tolerate cold conditions that would stop many summer lettuces.
See growing guides →100 seeds08
Lettuce Red Gem
Red lettuces use anthocyanin pigments as a natural sunscreen, creating their burgundy tones.
See growing guides →50 seeds09
Perpetual Spinach Leaf Beet
Despite its name, perpetual spinach is a leaf beet and is more closely related to Swiss chard than true spinach.
See growing guides →Approx. 100 seeds10
Salad Rocket
Rocket is a member of the mustard family, and its peppery flavour comes from similar pungent compounds.
See growing guides →50 seeds11
Swiss Chard Rainbow Mix
All those pink, yellow, orange and white stems belong to the same species as beetroot—the crop is selected for leaves, not roots.
See growing guides →100 seeds12
Watercress
Watercress is a semi-aquatic member of the mustard family, which explains both its habitat and peppery flavour.
See growing guides →Roots & onions
18 small stories
100 seeds01
Beetroot Boltardy
Boltardy was selected to resist premature flowering, making it especially useful for earlier UK sowings.
See growing guides →100 seeds02
Carrot Chantenay Royal
Chantenay carrots are broad-shouldered and stump-rooted, packing plenty of carrot into a relatively shallow depth.
See growing guides →100 seeds03
Carrot Early Nantes
Nantes carrots are known for smooth cylindrical roots with blunt tips rather than long tapered ends.
See growing guides →100 seeds04
Carrot Paris Market Atlas
Round Parisian carrots were developed for shallow soils and market growing around nineteenth-century Paris.
See growing guides →100 seeds05
Carrot Autumn King
Autumn King is a maincrop type valued for large roots and good storage rather than the earliest harvest.
See growing guides →100 seeds06
Carrot Red Samurai F1
Red carrots contain lycopene—the red pigment also found in tomatoes—rather than relying only on orange beta-carotene.
See growing guides →100 seeds07
Leek Musselburgh
The white part of a leek is simply stem kept away from light—a process called blanching.
See growing guides →100 seeds08
Onion Ailsa Craig
The variety is named after Ailsa Craig, the dramatic granite island visible off Scotland’s Ayrshire coast.
See growing guides →100 seeds09
Radish Cherry Belle
The name radish comes from the Latin radix, meaning root.
See growing guides →30 seeds10
Radish Trio Mix
One sowing can produce red, white and red-tipped roots, making the harvest as colourful as a salad garnish.
See growing guides →100 seeds11
Radish Hailstone
Hailstone is named for its small, round, snow-white roots.
See growing guides →100 seeds12
Radish Sparkler
Sparkler’s white-tipped red skin is a natural varietal pattern, not a sign that the root is underripe.
See growing guides →100 seeds13
Red Onion Brunswick
Red onion pigments are anthocyanins, the same broad family of compounds that colour red cabbage and berries.
See growing guides →100 seeds14
Spring Onion Summer Island
Bunching onions are grown mainly for their long white stems and green leaves rather than a round storage bulb.
See growing guides →100 seeds15
Spring Onion White Lisbon
White Lisbon is one of the best-known traditional salad onions, valued for speed and a mild clean flavour.
See growing guides →100 seeds16
Turnip Purple Top Milan
Purple Top Milan is unusually flat rather than round, making it a distinctive old European turnip.
See growing guides →100 seeds17
Turnip Golden Ball
Golden Ball has yellow flesh as well as yellow skin and is noted for a milder, slightly sweet flavour.
See growing guides →Approx. 100 seeds18
Turnip Snowball
Turnips are a double crop: both the swollen roots and their leafy tops can be eaten.
See growing guides →Brassicas
10 small stories
100 seeds01
Broccoli Early Purple Sprouting
Purple sprouting broccoli spends winter building strength, then produces a welcome crop during the early-spring hungry gap.
See growing guides →Approx. 100 seeds02
Brussels Sprout Bedford Darkmar 21
Brussels sprouts are enlarged side buds that form in the leaf joints all the way up the central stem.
See growing guides →100 seeds03
Brussels Sprout Evesham Special
Sprouts often taste sweeter after frost because cold conditions encourage changes in their stored sugars.
See growing guides →100 seeds04
Cauliflower All Year Round
A cauliflower curd is a mass of undeveloped flower shoots harvested before the plant can open them.
See growing guides →100 seeds05
Kale Black Tuscany
Also called cavolo nero or dinosaur kale, its deeply puckered leaves have been grown in Tuscany for generations.
See growing guides →Approx. 100 seeds06
Kale Dwarf Green Curled
Cold weather can make kale taste sweeter as the plant converts stored starches into soluble sugars.
See growing guides →Approx. 100 seeds07
Kale Red Ruble
The purple-red colour comes from anthocyanins, protective pigments that can deepen in bright or cool conditions.
See growing guides →100 seeds08
Kale Scarlet Curled
Scarlet kale combines edible curled leaves with strong ornamental colour, so it works well in decorative borders too.
See growing guides →100 seeds09
Savoy Cabbage Perfection
Savoy cabbages are named after the historic Alpine region of Savoy and are recognised by their deeply crinkled leaves.
See growing guides →80 seeds10
Swede Gowrie
Swede is a member of the brassica family and combines a cabbage-like leafy crown with a swollen edible root.
See growing guides →Fruiting crops
10 small stories
60 seeds01
Aubergine Listada de Gandia
This Spanish heirloom is famous for cream fruits brushed with purple stripes, so every harvest looks slightly different.
See growing guides →100 seeds02
Aubergine Black Beauty
Black Beauty is a classic early twentieth-century heirloom and helped popularise the large, dark aubergine shape.
See growing guides →10 seeds03
Buena Mulata Chilli
Buena Mulata is remarkable for purple stems, flowers and fruit that change through several colours as they ripen.
See growing guides →30 seeds04
California Wonder 300 TMR Sweet Pepper
Green and red bell peppers can be the same fruit at different stages—the red stage is riper and usually sweeter.
See growing guides →10 mixed seeds05
Chilli Surprise Mix
This is a true surprise mix: possible types differ greatly in colour, shape and heat, and no single variety is guaranteed.
See growing guides →Approx. 25 seeds06
Cucumber Marketmore
Cucumbers are around 95 per cent water, which explains why plants need consistent moisture while fruits swell.
See growing guides →10 seeds07
Sweetcorn Ambrosia F1
Sweetcorn starts converting sugar to starch after picking, which is why home-grown cobs taste best cooked quickly.
See growing guides →Approx. 75 seeds08
Tomato Moneymaker
Moneymaker became a British greenhouse favourite because its trusses are productive, uniform and dependable.
See growing guides →30 seeds09
Tomato Riesentraube
Riesentraube means giant bunch of grapes in German, a perfect description of its many-branched fruit clusters.
See growing guides →10 seeds10
Yellow Habanero Chilli
Most chilli heat is concentrated in the pale inner membrane around the seeds, not in the seeds themselves.
See growing guides →Peas & beans
3 small stories
10 seeds01
Broad Bean The Sutton
The Sutton is a true dwarf broad bean, reaching only about 30–45cm while still producing full-sized pods.
See growing guides →Approx. 100 seeds02
Pea Early Onward
Peas are legumes, partnering with root bacteria that can capture nitrogen from the air.
See growing guides →100 seeds03
Pea Lincoln
Pea flowers usually self-pollinate before they fully open, which helps old varieties remain remarkably consistent.
See growing guides →Herbs
7 small stories
100 seeds01
Basil Sweet Genovese
Genovese basil is the traditional basil of Ligurian pesto, prized for broad, tender and highly aromatic leaves.
See growing guides →100 seeds02
Chive Medium Leaf
Chives belong to the same Allium family as onions and garlic, and their purple flowers are edible too.
See growing guides →Approx. 100 seeds03
Coriander Green Aroma
Coriander gives two crops with different flavours: the fresh leaves and the dried aromatic seeds.
See growing guides →Approx. 100 seeds04
Greek Basil
Greek basil naturally forms a neat, rounded cushion of tiny leaves without needing much shaping.
See growing guides →Approx. 100 seeds05
Parsley Hamburg Turnip Rooted
Hamburg parsley is a double-use crop: parsley-flavoured leaves above ground and an edible aromatic root below.
See growing guides →100 seeds06
Thyme English Winter
Thyme flowers are rich in nectar, so this kitchen herb is valuable to bees as well as cooks.
See growing guides →100 seeds07
Thyme French Summer
Thyme keeps much of its aroma when dried, making it one of the most useful herbs for winter cooking.
See growing guides →Flowers & kits
7 small stories
100 seeds01
Calendula Nova
Calendula petals are edible and were historically used to colour butter, cheese and broths—hence the name pot marigold.
See growing guides →10 seeds02
Giant Single Yellow Sunflower
A sunflower head is not one flower but hundreds of tiny florets arranged in a remarkable spiral pattern.
See growing guides →Sunflower, bean, borage & plant food03
Living Tower Grow Kit
The kit turns one pot into a tiny vertical community: support, edible crop and pollinator flowers sharing the same space.
See growing guides →2g blend04
Cottage Garden Mixed Flowers
A mixture flowers in waves because its species germinate, mature and bloom at different speeds.
See growing guides →100 seeds05
Nasturtium Tom Thumb Mixed
Nasturtium leaves, flowers and green seed pods are edible, all with a distinctive peppery taste.
See growing guides →25 seeds06
Sunflower Dwarf Teddy Bear
Its fluffy appearance comes from densely packed extra petals, creating a bloom that looks more pompom than daisy.
See growing guides →4 herbs · 325 seeds · 4 grow bags07
Traditional Herbal Garden Starter Kit
The collection brings together four plants with long folk-garden histories: self-heal, yarrow, lemon balm and calendula.
See growing guides →Perennial vegetables
1 small stories
80 seeds01
Artichoke Green Globe
The part we eat is an unopened flower bud. Left unpicked, it opens into a spectacular purple thistle-like bloom.
See growing guides →Fruit
1 small stories
300 seeds01
Strawberry Baron von Solemacher
This alpine strawberry is largely runnerless, focusing its energy on repeated crops of small, intensely flavoured fruit.
See growing guides →From curiosity to compost
Ready to grow
the story?
Use the growing library for short UK sowing windows, harvesting notes and the one tip most likely to help each crop.
Open the growing guides →