Helping You Become a More Successful Gardener
Plant Search
©Dolezal Publishing/John M. Rickard
Brassicaceae
Brassica oleracea( Botrytis Group)
Cauliflower
A pleasure to grow as well as to eat, cauliflower is an excellent choice for the cool-season vegetable garden. Grown as an annual, it traces its ancestry to Brassica oleracea, a fleshy-leaved, short-lived perennial from coastal areas of western and southern Europe. When mature, it produces large, fleshy, central heads of flower buds (called "curds"), which are harvested and eaten before the flowers open. The heads are borne on thick short stalks above whorls of long leathery blue-green leaves. Cauliflower varieties are usually white, although orange cauliflower cultivars are now on the market. Hybrids between cauliflower and broccoli are also available; they typically have yellow-green or purple heads. Cauliflower develops no side shoots, so bears only one crop. Plants do poorly in hot weather, becoming lanky and flowering rather than remaining in bud. Depending on the variety, cauliflower takes 50 to 80 days from sowing to harvest.
This cool weather crop prefers full sun and fertile, organic-rich garden soil with ample drainage. Cauliflower should be planted as seed or transplants in early spring before temperatures heat up, or in summer for fall harvest. It is rewarding to grow and well worth the effort. As with all members of Brassica oleracea, it is susceptible to cabbage loopers and several other types of caterpillars.
The botrytis group of brassicas also includes perennial broccoli, which produces small heads of creamy flower buds on waist-high stems. Look for cultivar 'Nine Star'.
6 - 1
A1, A2, A3, H1, H2, 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Vegetable
Full Sun
12"-36" / 30.5cm - 91.4cm
1'-2' / 0.3m - 0.6m
Spring, Late Spring, Early Summer, Early Fall, Fall
Southern Europe, Western Europe, Mediterranean
Neutral
Well Drained
Loam, Sand
Fast
Average Water
Clump-Forming
Spring, Summer, Fall
Showy
Light Yellow
Light Green, Blue Green
Yes
No
Single
Bold
Matte
Semi-Evergreen
Edible, Herb / Vegetable
Butterflies
© 2006-2013 Preferred Commerce. All Rights Reserved.
