Purple Sprouting Broccoli Variety Information

Purple Reign (OP - Trial Only)

Purple Reign is an open-pollinated population being refined by the Organic Seed Alliance (Port Townsend, WA) in partnership with Organically Grown Company (Portland, OR). We are excited about this variety! At the moment, it is a bit variable - both in its morphology and harvest window. But stay tuned for this one to become a staple PSB variety in a few years. Photo in the field is from OSA; we took the one showing off purple stems - what do you think? Prettier than green?

  • reliable and hearty plants

  • brilliant purple florets

When to Find: March-April

Chef Wastell’s Tasting Notes:

Roasted: “enjoyably mild flavor with delicious leaves”

Blanched: “a favorable option for its true broccoli flavor without the off-putting harsh/bitter flavors”

Red Arrow Purple Sprouting Broccoli (OP)

Red Arrow is an open-pollinated variety from England, where PSB originates. This variety was awarded the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. We got our seed from OSU plant breeder Jim Myers, but it is available for purchase from Adaptive Seeds and Deep Harvest Farm. Photos from Adaptive Seeds - we will update with ours soon!

  • reliable and hearty plants

  • brilliant purple florets on variably colored, thin, tender stems

When to Find: (Late Feb.) March-April

Chef Wastell’s Tasting Notes:

Raw: “thin and deliciously sweet stems with pleasant flavor”

Roasted: “snappy texture, complex flavor, slightly spicy, faintly sweet”

Blanched: “fully sweet with round, full flavor”

Bonarda (F1)

Bonarda is an F1 hybrid variety bred by Bejo Seeds that we sourced from Osborne Seeds (although there are other sellers).

  • good producer

  • deep purple coloration

When to Find: March-April

Red Fire Purple Sprouting Broccoli (F1)

Red Fire is an F1 hybrid variety bred by Tozer Seeds that we sourced from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Johnny’s has dropped the variety in favor of Bonarda, but there may be other vendors. It sets florets in a rather concentrated time period, so it is available for a short period of time unless the grower plants successions.

  • large dense florets

  • reliable for overwintering production

When to Find: March-April

Chef Tim Wastell’s Tasting Notes:

Raw: “a favorable option - balanced, barely sweet flavor with pleasant texture”

Roasted: “great stem texture with slightly spicy/hot mustard flavor”

Mendocino (F1)

Mendocino is an F1 hybrid variety bred by Bejo Seeds that we sourced from Osborne Seeds. This is another winner of the British Royal Horticulture Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

  • good producer

  • prolific, tender side shoots

When to Find: March-April

Chef Tim Wastell’s Tasting Notes:

Raw: “very crisp texture, rather muted but mildly spicy flavor”

Roasted: “rich, nutty flavor with meaty texture and a bittersweet finish”

Blanched: “best texture of the bunch, with round, pleasant slightly sweet flavor”

Burgundy (F1)

Burgundy is an F1 hybrid variety from Bejo Seeds. We got our seed from Johnny’s Selected Seeds, but there are other sellers in the US. Reportedly good for summer, fall, and winter slots - but we focused on overwintering. More photos coming soon!

  • early producer

  • brilliant purple color

  • concentrated, dense side shoot production

When to Find: January-March

Rioja (F1)

Rioja is an F1 hybrid bred by Bejo Seeds for a flexible production window. We’ve only trialed it for overwintering production, but reportedly it is suitable for spring planting as well.

  • compact and dense florets

  • one of the earliest to mature

When to Find: February-March

Chef Wastell’s Tasting Notes:

Raw: “bright and slightly sweet”

Red Blaze (F1)

Red Blaze is an F1 hybrid bred by Tozer seeds and carried by Osborne here in the US. This is another variety bred for flexible and successive croppings, although our evaluations only looked at overwintering production.

  • uniform florets

  • one of the earliest to mature

When to Find: February-March