White Salsify - Scorzonera - A Fiore Blu

Pseudopodospermum hispanicum

Story: This unusual crop produces beautiful purple flowers that open in the morning and close in the afternoon, the roots are said to taste like oysters (they do a little) and the young flower buds can be steamed like asparagus - they are really delicious and  abundant! In fact we rarely eat the roots, favouring the delicious flower  buds. The roots need to be peeled before eating as the skins are tough, this is much easier if you steam the roots whole first. This salsify is biennial, producing flowers and seeds in their second year so be sure to eat the roots in the first year of growth (before they flower) as the roots go tough and stringy in their second year.

Sow: March  – May direct 

Requirements: Full sun, moist soil, warmth and watering

When to harvest for food: Harvest roots late autumn to early spring 

When to harvest for seed: Harvest dry seed heads as they form throughout the summer months.

Seed contributors: Omved Gardens/Leigh

Isolation needed: No 

Number of plants to save seeds from: 3 minimum, more better

How to save seed from Salsify: White salsify is biennial and will flower in its second year of growth. Allow the flowers to form and go over then let the seed heads fully dry on the plant, keep an eye on them and pick individual seed heads as they turn brown  on the plant but before the seeds drop. Bring inside to fully dry then package, label and date.

Sending seed back: Please label all seed with variety, type, date and your contact, if you didn't get a chance to fill out our online data collection form, you can also send us a few lines about how it grew for you/flavour etc. A guideline amount of seed to send back to The Seed Saving Network is 1/2 cup or more. Send to: The Seed Saving Network, Omved Gardens, 1 Townsend Yard, N6 5JF.Image courtesy of the Incredible Seed Library. 

Please remember, if you’re an individual grower you can order up to 4 packets of seeds. If you order more than this, you will receive just four packs to begin with. This is to ensure we get plenty of data in return and to keep our stocks sustainable for years to come.* 

*Community groups, Seed Saving Network Guardian and experienced growers can order larger quantities, please email us if this is the case. 

If an item is out of stock we will send a close alternative.