Seeds

Native to North America and belonging to the species Cucurbita moschata , the Butternut Violina (also called "Violina Rugosa" in Italy) is a fascinating blend of heritage and performance. This heirloom variety owes its name to its violin-like shape with its thick curves, and to the delicate apricot-colored flesh that literally melts on the tongue.

Historically cultivated in the gardens of the northeastern United States, then enthusiastically adopted in Mediterranean regions and more recently in Quebec, it embodies a valuable adaptive diversity. The Violina is perfectly suited to a kitchen garden or family garden thanks to its vigor, its ability to store well throughout the winter, and its capacity to feed a household with a single fruit.

In the garden, its ample foliage covers the ground and suppresses weeds, while its ribbed, drooping fruits ripen slowly in the sun. Its cycle is long, but its reward is exceptional. A true ambassador of late harvests, it accompanies the end of the seasons and allows gardeners to extend the magic of the vegetable garden right into the winter kitchen.

Originating in the South of France, the Round Courgette of Nice has naturally found its place in kitchen gardens, where its round, light green fruit has long been a staple in stuffed vegetable recipes. An old variety of courgette, it forms bushy plants that thrive in warm, fertile soil, helping to create a bountiful garden.

In the vegetable garden, this zucchini quickly produces a succession of round fruits, generally harvested young when their tender skin and delicate flesh are at their best. In a harmonious garden, it thrives alongside other summer vegetables and, with its foliage, helps to cover the soil and retain moisture. It is a reliable plant, productive throughout the growing season when harvested regularly.

Native to the tropical regions of South Asia and India , Malabar spinach , also known as purple basella , is a perennial climbing plant cultivated as an annual in our latitudes. Once a staple in tropical vegetable gardens, it has now become a popular choice for kitchen gardens worldwide thanks to its elegant shape , vigorous growth , and glossy, purple-tinged leaves .

In the garden, it grows quickly and climbs enthusiastically on trellises, fences, or vertical supports , forming truly productive vines . It tolerates summer heat admirably and provides a continuous harvest of fleshy, slightly mucilaginous leaves , perfect raw in salads or cooked like spinach . In hot, humid climates, it is a valuable plant for summer crops , where regular spinach struggles to grow.

Strawberry spinach is a cool-climate annual that thrives in rich, moist, well-drained soil . It can be sown directly in May or August , and the leaf harvest begins about two months later , continuing throughout the season.

From late spring onwards, thin stems that can reach 1 meter bear discreet green flowers , which then transform into edible, decorative and slightly juicy red pseudo-fruits from July to October .

It grows best in full sun , but in warmer climates, partial shade and a good layer of mulch are recommended to prevent water stress. It's ideal for filling gaps in the garden with an edible and unique touch.

Caucasian climbing spinach, Hablitzia tamnoides , is a perennial native to the cool, rocky undergrowth of the Caucasus. Long cultivated as a hardy leafy vegetable in mountain gardens, it naturally finds its place in ecological gardens where the aim is to combine edible abundance with sustainable ground cover.

In the garden, this plant forms a perennial clump from which, in spring, long climbing stems emerge, clinging to a trellis or spreading over a support. Its tender green, elongated heart-shaped leaves offer edible young shoots reminiscent of spinach. In a partially shaded corner, at the foot of a fence or shrub, it creates a discreet yet faithful presence, participating in the garden's cycle by returning each year from its well-established root system.

Thanks to its ability to vertically occupy space in cooler areas, it contributes to a harmonious garden where plant layers complement each other. It's a reliable plant for anyone wishing to create a vibrant and diverse garden, requiring careful cultivation and offering excellent consistency throughout the seasons.

Native to the tropical regions of America , this luminous annual captivates with its bright orange, spherical flower heads , reminiscent of tropical sunsets . Borne on upright, branching stems , it forms a compact and dynamic plant that brings warmth, structure, and contrast to flowerbeds, borders, or container plantings.

Its long and continuous flowering period , from summer until the first frosts, attracts numerous pollinators , particularly bees and butterflies . Highly heat-resistant and undemanding, it thrives in full sun and well-drained soil. It sometimes self-seeds when conditions are favorable.

With its robustness, simplicity and brilliance, it naturally finds its place in ecological and living gardens , where botanical diversity is celebrated.

Born from the millennia-old agricultural heritage of the Andes and adapted to the needs of modern gardeners, the Henderson Bush Lima Bean embodies the alliance between nourishing tradition and ease of cultivation. Its compact, bushy shape, requiring no staking, makes it an ideal choice for small gardens, container gardening, or urban vegetable patches.

This old cultivar, introduced to North America in the late 19th century, is prized for its hardiness, drought tolerance, and continuous production. It thrives in light, well-drained soils under ample sunshine, where it forms a dense ground cover that protects the soil. Its inconspicuous flowers herald full pods, each containing up to four plump, melt-in-your-mouth seeds.

An ideal companion plant, it enriches the soil with nitrogen, promotes microbial biodiversity, and embodies a form of sustainable and resilient food crop, perfectly integrated into a nourishing ecological garden.

Native to North America, the Black Valentine dwarf bean is a heritage variety that combines refinement and efficiency in the garden. Prized for its glossy black beans, resembling small ebony pearls, it evokes both the aesthetic simplicity and the bounty of traditional vegetable gardens.

Its bushy, compact, and elegant habit makes it a wise choice for small spaces, containers, or mixed planting borders. It offers discreet flowering followed by short, light green pods containing shiny seeds when ripe. Early-maturing and robust, it tolerates varying conditions well and is easy for gardeners to grow without staking. Its ability to fix nitrogen also makes it a valuable ally for naturally enriching the soil.

Native to North America, the Provider dwarf bean is an heirloom variety that has won over gardeners with its vigor, reliability, and remarkable earliness. Its compact, upright habit makes it ideal for small spaces, raised beds, or companion planting.

This hardy bean is distinguished by its tolerance to spring cold, allowing for early sowing as soon as the soil has warmed up. It forms vigorous plants that produce numerous green, straight, fleshy pods, about 14 cm (5½ inches) long. From June to September, its small flowers discreetly attract beneficial insects, contributing to a balanced ecosystem.

Easy to grow, reliable, and highly productive even in less than ideal conditions, it fits perfectly into a productive garden where simplicity goes hand in hand with consistency. Its ability to fix nitrogen also makes it a valuable ally for soil health.

A vibrant tribute to the diversity of North American vegetable gardens, the Royal Burgundy dwarf bean offers a unique spectacle with its dark purple pods contrasting against intense green foliage. Its compact, bushy habit makes it a perfect companion for urban gardeners, balconies, or small vegetable patches.

Hardy and cold-resistant, it ensures a generous yield even at the beginning of the cooler season. Its discreet white flowers herald long, tender, and flavorful pods that turn green when cooked. Undemanding and nitrogen-fixing, it integrates naturally into ecological crop rotations, nourishing the soil while adding color to the harvest. Accessible and rewarding, this bean embodies the balance between beauty, simplicity, and abundance in the garden.

The Fortin dry bean is an heirloom variety from Quebec, rooted in the Cap-Saint-Ignace region (Chaudière-Appalaches), where several generations of the Fortin family have carefully cultivated it. Hardy and deeply adapted to local conditions, this legume embodies a living heritage of Quebec's food garden.

Its compact, dwarf habit makes cultivation and harvesting easy, while its long, yellow pods contain numerous beige peas marked with a black eye, typical of the black-eyed pea variety. It is renowned for its exceptional productivity, yielding up to 45 lbs of harvest from a single pound of seed. Resistant to diseases and pests, it integrates easily into ecological crop rotations and naturally enriches the soil with nitrogen.

Native to the tropical regions of West Africa, Hibiscus Roselle has spread throughout the world as an ornamental and culinary plant. Known for its vibrant red calyces used in infusions, it invites gardeners on a journey of tangy and colorful flavors.

In the garden, it stands out for its upright habit and generous summer blooms of large flowers, sometimes pink or creamy yellow. Its cultivation offers a refreshing touch of the exotic and plays an essential role for lovers of natural beverages.

It is a variety with a warm and robust character that integrates naturally into a perennial garden with a focus on food and medicinal uses, offering both beauty and practical uses.

Native to Europe, the Dark Lollo Rossa leaf lettuce is prized for its dense, finely curled leaves and intense purplish-red color, adding a touch of sophistication to vegetable gardens and salads. Its light, crisp texture makes it a favorite among those who enjoy varied and visually appealing salads.

In the garden, it proves generous and easy to grow, perfect for spreading out harvests throughout the season. Its deep color is also eye-catching and enhances plant arrangements. This variety is an ideal ally for healthy and bountiful cultivation that respects biodiversity.

Originally from Europe, the Redina leaf lettuce has become a staple in vegetable gardens thanks to its vigor and beautiful purple color, which enhances salads. This variety of leaf lettuce is characterized by its tender, serrated leaves, whose deep red hue adds an aesthetic and flavorful touch to both the garden and the plate.

In the garden, Redina stands out for its rapid growth and slightly spreading habit, allowing it to quickly form a colorful carpet. Its relative hardiness in the face of climatic variations makes it an ideal companion for the cooler seasons of early spring or autumn. It adds diversity to a productive garden, bringing freshness and lightness to the table.

Common lavender is an iconic perennial plant, renowned for its intense fragrance, elegant flowers, and high aromatic value. It forms a small, compact shrub with finely cut, evergreen grey-green foliage that provides structure to the garden year-round.

In summer, long flower stalks rise above the foliage, adorned with highly fragrant, bluish-purple spikes. This bloom attracts a multitude of pollinators and transforms the garden into a vibrant, buzzing space. Lavender brings color, fragrance, and movement.

In the garden, Lavandula angustifolia thrives in very well-drained soil and sunny locations. Successful lavender cultivation relies primarily on alkaline soil , an essential condition for healthy growth, plant longevity, and abundant flowering.

It is more susceptible to excessive moisture than cold, which explains the importance of effective drainage and a suitable pH, particularly in northern climates. Once well established in light, alkaline soil, it proves drought-resistant and requires very little maintenance.

In the ecumene, lavender is perceived as a plant of clarity and balance. It embodies the meeting between the ornamental garden, the aromatic and the medicinal, reminding us that some plants heal the senses as much as the landscapes.

Native to the mountainous regions of Europe and Asia, mountain lovage, often called common lovage or mountain celeriac, is a large umbellifer that naturally finds its place in a living garden. Its glossy green, deeply cut, and fragrant foliage is reminiscent of celery, while its upright stems bear, in summer, large umbels of small greenish-yellow flowers.

Planted in welcoming, cool, and well-drained soil, this robust perennial faithfully returns year after year, offering both a welcoming presence and a generous harvest of aromatic leaves. Its tall stature structures the edges of a vegetable garden or a quiet corner of the garden, where it participates in the cycle of seasons with admirable consistency. In a deeply rooted approach to respectful cultivation, lovage is a reliable plant, discreet yet essential in the garden.

Wild lupin is one of those unassuming presences that transforms a dry bank or depleted soil into a vibrant and colorful corner. With its finely cut palmate leaves and upright spikes of bluish-purple to whitish flowers, it evokes natural meadows and roadsides where the garden still leaves ample room for spontaneity.

In a garden in harmony with the cycle of the seasons, wild lupin establishes itself slowly, extending its deep roots and connecting with the soil. As a true legume, it contributes to fertility by associating nitrogen-fixing bacteria with its roots. Its flowers, growing in vertical clusters, offer a valuable resource for bees and other pollinating insects, making it a trusted companion in a diverse and nourishing environment.

Hardy and undemanding, it prefers poor soils to overly rich ones. It readily complements naturalistic flowerbeds, wildflower meadows, and areas slightly removed from the vegetable garden, where its benevolent presence contributes to biodiversity as much as to the daily pleasure of the observant gardener.

Art Verrell's corn is an old line of sweet corn, passed down through North American family gardens before being preserved by seed artisans. Its ears with yellow and white kernels evoke traditional fields and farmers' markets, where the age-old act of harvesting is still part of daily life.

In the garden, this corn forms a sturdy, upright clump that structures the vegetable patch and creates a protective green wall in a vibrant garden . In addition to providing sweet ears for cooking, it contributes to a welcoming habitat for small wildlife. Integrated into a holistic approach and respectful cultivation , it naturally finds its place in the cycle of the seasons, alongside squash and beans.

Orchard Baby is a dwarf sweet corn variety designed for gardens where summer is short and every sunny day counts. Its low, stocky plants produce small, uniform ears that mature quickly, providing a sweet corn harvest even where larger varieties struggle to reach maturity.

In a kitchen garden , its compact size makes it easy to plant in combination with other plants and allows light to circulate. It participates in the cycle of the seasons as a discreet yet reliable presence: sown when the soil warms up, it quickly grows, flowers, and forms its seed heads in a short time. It is a variety prized for its ability to offer, in a quiet corner of the vegetable garden, the simple pleasure of picking tender young seed heads straight from the living garden.