Brassica Oleracea Ornamental Cabbage Biennial Summer Flower Plant
ORNAMENTAL CABBAGE
The Japanese are responsible for reviving interest in ornamental cabbages. At one time, they were used in single-colored flower-beds, but they went out of fashion. In Japan, however new cultivars have been developed, with green, pinkish red, deep red, or white leaves, which may or may not be curly. The colors are often combined, with the center having a distinctly different color from that of the encircling leaves.
Although ornamental cabbages are somewhat ungainly in appearance, they may extend the garden season for quite some time. Their colors do not develop fully until the autumn (at temperatures below 59 °F), and since they tolerate a fair amount of frost, they retain their decorative appearance until March in mild winters. After that they may go on the compost heap or be fed to the rabbits, as the plants are definitely edible. They are on sale only in autumn, but sowing them oneself is also possible. Sow in June or July and plant out in a permanent position -in a pot or a flower-bed – in July or August.
Brassica oleracea or Wild Mustard, is a species of Brassica native to coastal southern and western Europe, where its tolerance of salt and lime and its intolerance of competition from other plants typically restrict its natural occurrence to limestone sea cliffs.
Wild B. olearacea is a tall biennial plant, forming a stout rosette of large leaves in the first year, the leaves being fleshier and thicker than those of other species of Brassica, adaptations to store water and nutrients in its difficult growing environment. In its second year, the stored nutrients are used to produce a flower spike 1 to 2 metres (3–7 ft) tall bearing numerous yellow flowers.
