... growing and hybridizing all kinds of plants in zone 6b Maryland since the 1980's.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Black Kales

The very cold weather has intensified the purple pigmentation of the glossy kale seedlings so that they're looking nearly black. Here are two particularly nice selections that I'd moved to the seed production area a little while ago. The first black kale has a 'Tuscan' kale to the left of it for comparison. The second black kale has a 'Stonehead' cabbage seedling to the left of it. The third picture is of a sibling that is showing the effects of the gene for cold-weather induced lack of chlorophyll in the center just like the original ornamental purple cabbage that I used so many years ago. The leaf shape also resembles that old original ornamental cabbage. I recently bought and planted a look-alike of that ornamental cabbage - pictured in the fourth picture.



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