Why garden or cook in “black and white” when Technicolor vegetables could brighten you garden beds and add excitement and more nutrition to your table? Consider the following vegetable and herb varieties when you plan your next garden, you could even put in a rainbow garden and plant beds full of each color.
Red Vegetables
Beets - ‘Bull’s Blood’ - deep red beets, red stems and leaves
Chard - ‘Ruby’ - green leaves, red stems and veins
Corn - ‘Ruby Queen’ - red sweet corn, maintains red color if micro waved
Lettuce - ‘Red Sails’, ‘Galactic’, and ‘Sangria’ - large burgundy lettuces
Okra - ‘Red’ - red okra, red stems
Pepper - ‘Early Red’ bell - reliable, adaptable
Pepper - ‘Pimento’ and ‘Lipstick’ - medium size peppers; sweet thick flesh
Orange Vegetables
Beet - ‘Burpee’s Golden’ - yellow beets, leaves with golden veins
Carrot - ‘Nutri-Red’ - deep red-orange carrot
Pepper - ‘Golden Bell’ and ‘Mandarin Hybrid’ - large bells, adaptable
Tomato - ‘Golden Jubilee’ - medium-sized orange fruit
Tomato - ‘Sun Gold’ and ‘Gold Nugget’ - great tasting, cherries
Watermelon - ‘New Queen’ and ‘Orange Sweet’ - orange flesh, large fruits
Yellow Vegetables
Beans - ‘Pencil Pod Wax’ snap beans, bush
Carrot - ‘Sweet Sunshine’ - yellow carrots
Chard - ‘Bright Yellow’ - striking yellow stems and veins
Pepper - ‘Gypsy’ - yellow, ripens to deep orange, medium-sized fruit
Pepper - ‘Sweet Banana’ - medium, long yellow fruits
Tomato - ‘Taxi’ - medium sized yellow tomato
Tomato - ‘Yellow Pear’ - cherry, large plants
Squash - ‘Sunburst’ - round, yellow patty pan; bush
Squash - ‘Gold Rush’ and ‘Sunray’ - bright yellow zucchinis; bush
Watermelon - ‘Yellow Doll’ and ‘Sunshine’- yellow flesh, small melons
Violet, Blue, and Indigo Vegetables
Basil - ‘Red Rubin’ - purple leaves, good flavor
Beans - ‘Royalty Purple Pod’ and ‘Sequoia’ - purple snap beans; bush
Broccoli - ‘Purple Spouting’ and ‘Violet Queen’ - purple buds
Cauliflower - ‘Graffiti’ - bright-purple heads
Eggplant - ‘Rosa Bianco’, ‘Orient Charm’, and ‘Neon’ - dramatic, lavender fruits
Pepper - ‘Lilac Hybrid’ - large lavender bells
Pepper - ‘Purple Cayenne’ - hot pepper; long purple fruits
Potatoes - ‘All Blue’ - blue skins and flesh
Radish - ‘Easter Egg’ - mix of purple, pink, and red radishes


by Rosalind Creasy
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