Types of Broccoli

Not many people know this, but there are different types of broccoli. You have possibly seen these different types before in a grocery store or a farmer’s market, but they wouldn’t have looked much like broccoli. They are usually leafier, blue-green colored, skinnier, and sometimes even resemble vegetables like cauliflower.

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Sun King

Known for its delightful flavor, Sun King will have a lot of side shoots as it creates blue-green heads of six to eight inches. These will arrive at the development maturity phase in 70 days.

This type of broccoli is known for its heat tolerance. Therefore, it is suitable for growing in hotter zones, such as Zones 1-11.

Waltham 29

Waltham 29 is a kind of broccoli famous for its cold tolerance. It has blue-green main heads with extra side shoots. This variety is preferable for Zones 3-10, in the early spring and late fall. It can last for about 70 days. The blue-green heads are around four to eight inches in diameter. This kind of broccoli is perfect for cooking.

Romanesco

Romanesco is an ancient Italian heirloom that has similar shape and features like a cauliflower. It has pointed spiral florets. Romanesco matures in 75 to 80 days. It isn’t a fan of midsummer heat, as it starts to bolt in high temperatures. For this reason, it is advisable to put them to ground in early spring and sow in late fall.

Romanesco has a delicate, slightly crunchy flavor and attractive appearance of spiraled greenheards.

Green Magic

Blue-green in color, green magic is a kind of heading broccoli. The maturity period of this kind of broccoli is a minimum of 60 days. As it grows, it produces densely packed, large heads. It grows best in southern regions as it is an excellent heat tolerant. It has a buttery flavor.

Purple Sprouting

Not only is Purple Sprouting an attractive looking type of broccoli, it is also incredibly tasteful. Purple Sprouting broccoli has a nutty peppery flavor with a hint of sweet and sour mix.

It grows best in cold temperatures. Purple sprouting, as the name suggests, does not produce single heads. Instead it produces a number of small purple flowers on each plant. It contains higher content of antioxidants in comparison to regular green broccoli.

Belstar:

Found and grown in the South during winters, Belstar is also part of the broccoli family. It’s a six-inch vegetable that has blue and green heads and reaches maturity in approximately 65 days.

Ideally, the Belstar broccoli is grown for harvest twice in the year, during the spring as well as the fall season. It’s quite compact, and can tolerate heat pretty well too.

Destiny:

Destiny is a hybrid that has been bred over the years for exceptional heat tolerance, making it perfect for Zone 7-11. In about 70-75 days, Destiny produces a small to medium green head that is tinged with purple.

DiCicco:

DiCicco is known as an Italian heirloom found in Zone 3-10. It’s known to produce small to medium blue-green heads that are of irregular maturity. The plant produces heads at a different rate and is pretty ideal for a home garden too. Yes, you heard that right!

If you are someone who’s growing the DiCicco expect to see first mature heads in up to 50 days. That’s not all, because energetic side shoots keep appearing later as well.

Calabrese:

Another heirloom variety is the Calabrese, which is a prime selection for Zone 3-10. This is also an old Italian type that is known to produce medium to large green heads.

This heirloom variety matures in around 65 days, and is pretty popular for its profiling sprouting shoots that appear after the first harvest.

Eastern Magic:

Eastern Magic was tailored in the Northwestern regions of USA and Canada, especially in the cold. This variety does quite well in the spring and fall season. It is known to produce massive blue-green crowns that are pretty good in taste too.

This variety is remarkably heat tolerant bur benefits those in the colder regions. It’s growing season goes till the summer. Eastern Magic is known to be a fast grower, with it reaching maturity at 60-65 days.

Grow your own broccoli!

Broccoli has specific planting requirements that depend upon the area you live in. It is important to know if your climate is friendly for its growth or not. Every region has its own suitable cultivators that can easily be found at your local nursery.

The produce of these amazing types of broccoli may taste pretty good if purchased from the market but the real fun is fresh produce from your home garden. This amazing vegetable can be added in your stir-fries, in different salads, and in so many other dishes. Want to elevate the taste? Grow some of thee types of broccoli in your backyard!

Learning about these different types of broccolis is a treat, because now you can enjoy many different types of broccolis, in your snacks and salads. This vegetable comes with a list of benefits and having it in your fridge should be a must.