Description:

A cool weather, heirloom selection producing ovate heads resembling heads of lettuce; green leaves speckled with ruby red turn buttery yellow with deep red spots in the cool weather; a great choice for salads, grilling or roasting

Edible Qualities

Variegata di Castelfranco Radicchio is an annual vegetable plant that is commonly grown for its edible qualities. The oval yellow leaves with distinctive ruby-red spots which emerge light green in spring are usually harvested from mid spring to mid fall. The leaves have a mild taste.

The leaves are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Eating When Cooked/Prepared
• Cooking

Planting & Growing

Variegata di Castelfranco Radicchio will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 inches. When planted in rows, individual plants should be spaced approximately 12 inches apart. This fast-growing vegetable plant is an annual, which means that it will grow for one season in your garden and then die after producing a crop. Because of its relatively short time to maturity, it lends itself to a series of successive plantings each staggered by a week or two; this will prolong the effective harvest period.

This plant is typically grown in a designated vegetable garden. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. This plant does not require much in the way of fertilizing once established. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America, and it is considered by many to be an heirloom variety.

Variegata di Castelfranco Radicchio is a good choice for the vegetable garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing the canvas against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.