Decór Swiss Chard for Fall

Swiss Chard ‘Bright Lights Mix’

Swiss chard is one of the prettiest cool weather vegetables you’ll find. It tastes mild and sweet but you’ll want to grow it just for the décor value. This leafy green comes in a rainbow of stem colors—‘Bright Yellow’ proved to be very popular so we’ve added a few more varieties to our collection.

Broccoli ‘Green Magic’

Two more vegetables that thrive in the cold weather are broccoli and cauliflower—both are pretty popular these days. We like them sautéed or roasted, tossed with pasta, or in a stir-fry—we even like them raw with some cool ranch dressing to dip them in. Have you ever tasted cream of broccoli soup? A nice warm bowlful with some cheesy croutons hits the spot on a shivery autumn night. 

Our broccoli and cauliflower selections are available in 1203 flats:

• ‘Packman’ is a vigorous bright green broccoli with large, domed heads that rise up above the foliage, making it very easy to harvest. This is a large-beaded variety, referring to all those individual flowers that comprise the head. Expect sizable yields of mild-flavored broccoli with ‘Packman’—luckily it keeps well in the refrigerator or freezer.
• Attractive ‘Green Magic’ is a blue-green broccoli. Here again the heads are nicely domed but the beads are mid-sized for a slightly different look. This variety is known for its buttery taste—some even say it tastes like it’s already been buttered. ‘Green Magic’ is dependable and compact; plants reach about 2 feet high and produce generous yields of crisp, delicious broccoli.
• ‘Self-Blanche’ is a classic heirloom cauliflower that produces tasty 6–9 inch ivory-white heads. Low-maintenance is its major selling point: when temperatures drop the leaves curl upright and wrap around the heads to protect them—leaving gardeners free to finish up other landscaping tasks. 

Cauliflower ‘Self Blanche’

If you’re interested in seeing how different plants play off of each other, stop by and walk through our Display Gardens. This is where we learn how big a cultivar will grow, what plants can sit next to each other, or how densely we should sink the holes to get a nice lush look.

In the picture below, we’ve planted some celosia behind a mix of white and purple angelonia. We like the tall color of the celosia because it broadcasts that color for a long distance; we also like the fact that the stately green plants screen out anything behind them. They form a nice pocket garden for the much smaller angelonia. If you want to set up mini-gardens inside a larger piece of landscape, now you know one of our trusted techniques.

This is valuable information. If you like the garden you see, it’s easy to order up the same plant material and install a similar garden on a job site. Providing color is a reliable supplemental revenue stream for many landscapers. Some companies find that it becomes a signature service and a major source of revenue.