The Three Bears of Kale

‘Scarlet Bor’ in an arrangement, already a deep purple

Kale is a subset of the brassicas, a large class of cool weather vegetables including cabbage, brussel sprouts, mustard, and collards. We often focus on the ornamental value of a kale, regardless of whether it’s edible or not. It’s surprising how many varieties from the vegetable garden can come out front into display beds.

For most design situations, we turn to one of the three bears of kale: the Nagoyas, the Bors, or the Yokohamas. Whether you need round and feathered, tall and ruffled, or tight and frilly, one of these three families is usually just right.

‘Nero di Toscana’—stiff spiky leaves

Every family has one and ‘Nero di Toscana’ fills the role of crazy uncle for the brassicas. This tall, skinny character takes the genus in a completely different direction. Extra long spears of stiff, smoky gray leaves—18 inches long by just two inches wide—are held up and around a central stem. A prominent white spine on each leaf is the handlebar mustache that adds offbeat charm to this unique relative.

You might have heard ‘Nero’ called lacinato or dinosuar kale for its roughly pebbled surface; it’s also known as the palm cabbage because when grown for a full season the stem raises those spears until the plant resembles a miniature palm tree. Since it has no color—in fact, the dark gray foliage is a selling point—yet another name for this variety is the black cabbage. Call it what you will, it hardly resembles a cabbage at all. In fact, if this crazy uncle wanted a job as an agave, it would easily get hired.

Leaves are sweeter after the frost hits—they go vertical when they thaw

‘Nero’ is a heritage Italian vegetable with a history dating back to the early 1800s. You’ll still find this variety in Tuscan gardens today, where its sweet flavor is used to enhance autumn soups and stews. After the frost hits the leaves they become even sweeter. 

We grow a mature version of ‘Nero di Toscana’ for the architectural look—it deserves a place in the front yard as a drama plant.

Sunfinity™ sunflowers are still beautiful in fall 

If you were here for Field Day you might remember that the surprise of the year for me is our Sunfinity™ sunflower. What makes it amazing is the fact that it’s ever blooming. We put some of these plants in our display beds in June—already in bloom—and they haven’t stopped since. 

Honeybees have been visiting the Sunfinity™ frequently, which is a good thing. We’ve seen some hummingbirds out there too, and the finches like the seed heads so we leave those on and the birds come and eat them. 

These plants will go well into fall. I expect that eventually the frost will come and take them down but we’re keeping an eye on them and we’ll let you know how long they go. Our other dwarf sunflower varieties are great for fall as well—they add a cheery, golden glow to landscapes and containers for the season.

Sunfinity™ is available in the 8-inch pot. ‘Choco Sun’ and ‘Rio Carnival’ come in the 8-inch size as well.

To learn more about Sunfinity™ sunflowers, please click here:

http://www.dgiplants.com/2015-reviews/spring-2015/713-sunfinity-sunflowers