Purple Heart Artichoke: This variety is a magnificent perennial native to parts of China and also grown in Italy, with spiny, green foliage and purple, thistle-like flowers when open and grows to five feet. In summer, tall flower stems are topped by fat thistle buds which resemble small globe artichokes. Buds finally open into large purple thistles which attract lots of bees; the dead heads often dry quite attractively on the plants.  The fleshy leaf bases are sometimes eaten cooked or raw as a vegetable like celery. Artichokes have specialized bracts (phyllaries) that surround each composite flower head, the inner, soft base which is edible in the artichoke. The name Cynara comes from the Greek 'kyon', a dog, a reference to the tooth-shaped phyllaries. (4 Seeds)

Ruby (Red) Corn (Maize): Maize is a cereal grain domesticated in the American continent. After European contact with the Americas in the late 15th century and early 16th century, corn spread to the rest of the world. The stems superficially resemble bamboo canes and the internodes can reach 2030 cm. Maize has a very distinct growth form; the lower leaves being like broad flags, 50-100 cm long and 5-10 cm wide. The stems are erect, usually 23 metres in height, with many nodes, casting off flag-leaves at every node. Under these leaves and close to the stem grow the "ears". They grow about 3 cm a day. The ears are female inflorescences, tightly covered over by several layers of leaves, and so closed-in by them to the stem that they do not show themselves easily until the emergence of the pale yellow silks from the leaf whorl at the end of the ear. The silks are elongated stigmas that look like tufts of hair, at first green, and later red or yellow. The apex of the stem ends in the tassel, an inflorescence of male flowers. Each silk may become pollinated to produce one kernel of corn. (10 Seeds)

Red Okra: A member of the hibiscus family, red okra is an annual growing to 70cm and bears yellow flowers that give rise to the familiar okra pods common as a fried vegetable. Okra's attractive blossoms are ivory or yellow in color, funnel-shaped and resemble hibiscus flowers. The throat of the flower is maroon. The plant is a rather coarse annual with large lobed, slightly spiny leaves and a thick, semi-woody stem with few branches. (10 Seeds)

Romanesco Brocolli: Very popular in Europe, particularly in Italy, this unique broccoli is relished for its fine, gourmet flavor. Yields light green, slightly yellowish heads. Grows quite well in cooler areas. 75-100 days. (20 Seeds)

Serpent Gourd: A vigorous vine which can reach a height of 1.5 metres. The pulp is full and fleshy and is an ideal fresh food. (4 Seeds)

Sieve Bean: This is a superb plant an annual herb of 30-50 cm in height. When young the tender leaves and stem is edible in salads and if allowed to mature so are the small beans.  Sieve beans (butterbeans) are twining vines or herbaceous bushes (this Chinese variety is a small bush and looks good in the border), perennial in nature, but usually grown as annuals, even in the tropics.  The leaves have three leaflets, each 2-5 inches in (5-12cm) long. The flowers are white to yellowish and quite small, usually less than 1 inch (2.5 cm) in length and if placed in wardrobes etc scents them wonderfully. The pods can be 2-4 in (5-10cm) long and an inch or so wide. (25 Seeds)

Small Fruit Bottle Gourd: Similar to the larger variety but with smaller fruits about 15cm diameter. It is a vigorous, sprawling plant. Soak seeds overnight and plant in growing position covering seeds with about 1cm of soil. Germination should be within 7 - 10 days. (8 Seeds)

Snake Gourd:  This climbing plant in the pumpkin family with palmate leaves and white flowers is an important plant in traditional Chinese medicine and under investigation for the substance Trichosanthin that has antiviral and other properties. Seed - sow April/May in pots in a warm greenhouse in a rich soil. Sow 2 - 3 seeds per pot and thin to the strongest plant. Grow them on fast and plant out after the last expected frosts. Give some protection, such as a frame or cloche, until the plants are growing away well. Requires a rich well-drained soil and plenty of moisture in the growing season. Cultivated in China for its edible fruit and medicinal uses. Male plants are favoured for root production. This species is not winter hardy in Britain and usually requires greenhouse cultivation. However, it may be possible to grow it as an annual in a very warm sheltered bed outdoors. A climbing plant, supporting itself by means of tendrils. Dioecious, male and female plants must be grown if seed is required. (7 Seeds)

Snake Gourd/Wang Ku/Chinese Cucumber: Climbing, herbaceous vine, 5 to 6 meters high. Stems are green, 4-angled, slightly fairy and disagreeable in odor. Roots are tuberous and whitish. Leaves are hairy on both surfaces, rounded and broad, 7 to 14 cm long, 3- to 5-lobes that are broad, rounded or obtuse; the sinuses rounded, broad or narrow; base is broadly heart-shaped. Staminate inflorescences are long-peduncled and axillary with 6 to 15 flowers. Petals are white, fimbriate, oblong, about 1.3 cm long. Fruits is ellipsoid, 3-4 cm diameter, green and mottled with longitudinal gray stripes when young, orange-red when mature. Seeds are half-ellipsoid, compressed, undulate, embedded in a soft, foetid, bitter and red pulp.
In China, widely used in traditional medicine. Roots used for diabetes, skin swellings like boils. Stalks and leaves for fevers. (6 Seeds)

Soy Bean: Plant soybeans in full sun; soybeans will tolerate partial shade but the yield will be reduced. Soybeans grow best in loose, well-drained soil rich in organic matter. Soybeans prefer a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.8. Soybeans are tolerant of poor soil. (15 Seeds)

Spoon Bottle Gourd:  This is a decorative gourd and not edible. Early 3 - 4m trailing variety, medium maturing, bottle-shaped, green colour, the fruit is 25cm in length, 500g in weight, good quality, tender, white flesh, it can be harvested about 55 days after transplanting in spring, 42 days in autumn, wide adaptability, strong disease resistance, resistant to powdery mildew and virus diseases. Grow gourds by sprouting seeds in a wet paper towel and then planting them in an area with full, hot sun, 2 inches of composted soil and lots of water. (5 Seeds)

Strawberry: A large, sweet, juicy strawberry from China. Sow: 20-25C greenhouse during spring. Grow: 15-35C outside. (20 Seeds)

Strawberry Corn: Corn likes hot summers. Corn should be planted in specific patterns and distances, and separated by rows. Plant seeds directly in the garden. Plant your seeds 2 weeks after last frost date and when soil has warmed up. Corn needs warm soil to germinate. The seeds may rot if the soil is too cool. Soil temperature needs to be higher than 60 F. Plant the seeds in blocks of at least 3 rows in each direction as corn is pollinated by the wind. Planting in blocks also protects stalks from damage from high winds. Plants can grow 3 to 8 ft tall. Warning: Do not plant in cold wet soil or you may experience poor germination. (15 Seeds)

Striped Eggplant Mixed: Oval shaped with mixed white, purple and green fruits. Both edible and ornamental. (8 Seeds)

Swan Bottle Gourd: The bottle gourd is a decorative, vigorous, annual, running or climbing vine with large leaves and a lush appearance. It grows fast and may begin to flower only 2 months after seeding. The vine is branched and climbs by means of tendrils along the stem. The foliage is covered with soft hairs and has a foul musky odor when crushed. The leaves of the bottle gourd are up to 15 inches wide, circular in overall shape, with smooth margins, a few broad lobes, or with undulate margins. Leaves have a velvety texture because of the fine hairs, especially on the undersurface. The bottle gourd flowers are borne singly on the axils of the leaves, the males on long peduncles and the females on short peduncles. The flowers are white and attractive, up to 4 inches in diameter, with spreading petals. The ovary is inferior and in the shape of the fruit. Otherwise, the male and female flowers are similar in appearance. The anthers are borne on short filaments grouped at the center of the flower. The stigmas are short, thickened, and branched. The brownish seeds are numerous in a whitish green pulp. The fruit is not edible.

Sweet Marble Watermelon: Fruits are small, about 3-5 pounds, and round shaped with smooth, uniform and attractive appearance. The flesh is juicy, crispy and very sweet. This variety is an ideal watermelon for home gardens and fresh markets. The plant is vigorous and productive, setting approximately 2 - 3 fruits each plant. Easy to grow. (8 Seeds)

Sweet Purple Pepper: Start seeds indoors in trays four weeks before last frost. Select a location in your garden that receives full sun. Prepare the garden, adding plenty of compost, manure, and a general fertilizer. No matter what type of pepper you grow, they like the weather hot. Transplant young seedlings outdoors after the last chance of frost. If the weather is still cool, delay transplanting a few days, and keep them in a coldframe, indoors or next to the house. Space 18-24 inches apart, in rows 24 to 36 inches apart. This spacing may vary somewhat by variety. Pepper plants prefer moist soil. Avoid wet soil. Water regularly in the hot, dry summer months. Add mulch around the peppers to keep down weeds, and to retain moisture. As the peppers develop, switch over to a fertilizer higher in phosphorous and potassium. Gardeners often make the mistake of providing too much nitrogen. The result is a great looking bushy, green plant, but few fruit. Tip: Peppers are self pollinators. Occasionally, they will cross pollinate from pollen carried by bees or other insects. To minimize this possibility, don't plant hot and sweet peppers too close. Don't worry though, as it will not affect the fruit of this year's crop. The cross will show up in the genetics of the seeds, if you save them. (6 Seeds)

Tai Ji/Yin Yang/Orca Bean: A delightful bean coloured with the distinctive pattern of the well-known Chinese symbol. Flavor is quite mild and tasty. Pods grow to 6" - 7" and can be harvested when young. Very unique and quite the conversation piece. Maturity: 75 days. (15 Seeds)

UFO Melon: An edible and fun melon to grow especially for children. Soil Preparation: Melons require excellent drainage to thrive, so the best method is to grow them in raised beds that are 5 or 6 feet wide.  The top of the bed should slope downward from a mound to induce water to drain away.  If the water manages to collect in pools, it may lead to rotted fruits and other problems.  The soil should be very rich in organic matter and phosphates. 2. Sowing & Planting: Direct seeding into your soil is the best method, unless you live in a cooler climate with a short growing season.  If this is the case, start the seeds indoors around 1 month prior to the last frost and transplant them outside 3 weeks after the last frost.  If you are planting directly into the soil, sow 3 seeds into the hill about 1/2 inch deep.  Each hill should be spaced 4 or 5 feet apart to encourage proper growth.  Hot caps placed over the seeds with encourage rapid growth.  When the seedlings are well established, cull out the weak seedlings.  If the seedlings were started indoors, transplant them 1 foot apart in the beds.  Cover the seedlings with cloches to protect them from frost and parasites.  If you would like to create a successive harvest, sow more seeds every 3 weeks following the first sow, but leave ample time for these younger crops to mature. 3. Looking After the Crop: Melons need heat to provide a good yield.  In cold climates, cover the soil with black plastic to raise the soil temperature.  In warmer climates, use straw or dried grass clippings over the top of newspaper. (8 Seeds)

Ugly Duckling Melon: Annual climber. Unusual shape and multicolour fruit which growing to around 15cm. great for decoration and a real conversation piece. (8 Seeds)

Violetta Cauliflower: Yields large, bright, purple heads with a mild flavor akin to broccoli. Heads will blanch to green when cooked. Very flavourful. 85 days. (20 Seeds)

Water Melon: Start your watermelon seeds in the ground, right where they are supposed to grow, they prefer this to being started in pots. The soil should be at least 18°C for them to germinate. Watermelon seed germinates easily and quickly, within a few days. Watermelon plants outgrow the seedling stage very quickly. You don't save much time and you end up with a weaker plant. Save yourself this totally needless extra work and stick your seeds in the ground, about two cm or an inch deep. (If you have a long growing season, you may want to do several plantings, a few weeks apart.)Watermelons need deep, rich, friable soils. To grow watermelons it helps to raise the soil (make mounds or ridges). Raising the soil has several advantages: A mound or ridge is free draining (melons don't like wet feet). If heavy clay soil, definitely raise the bed. Mounds are also good if the soil is as poor as mine. I just make a mound of good soil with lots of compost in it to grow watermelons. If you like growing things in neat rows, or if you want to plant a large area, grow watermelons on ridges, like the commercial growers do. Rows should be about 2 m (6 ft) apart and the plants spaced at 30 cm/a foot apart. (Sow twice as many as you want, and keep the stronger ones.) You may prefer growing watermelons in clumps on a mound, in several different locations in the garden. (Mixing things up helps keeping pests and diseases at bay.) If you want several hills together, keep them about 2 m apart. The mound should be about one metre square and a foot high. Then I plant about ten seeds in it, in three groups of three to four seeds each. The groups are spaced about a foot apart (30 cm). After a few weeks see which watermelon plants grow the strongest, and snip off the weaker ones, leaving only one seedling in each group. (8 Seeds)

White Corn: Maize is a cereal grain domesticated in the American continent. The stems superficially resemble bamboo canes and the internodes can reach 20-30 cm. Maize has a very distinct growth form; the lower leaves being like broad flags, 50100 cm long and 510 cm wide. The stems are erect, usually 23 metres in height, with many nodes, casting off flag-leaves at every node. Under these leaves and close to the stem grow the "ears". They grow about 3 cm a day. The ears are female inflorescences, tightly covered over by several layers of leaves, and so closed-in by them to the stem that they do not show themselves easily until the emergence of the pale silks from the leaf whorl at the end of the ear. The silks are elongated stigmas that look like tufts of hair. The apex of the stem ends in the tassel, an inflorescence of male flowers. Each silk may become pollinated to produce one kernel of corn. This is a particularly interesting variety and can be grown on a wide variety of soils including London clay which is unusual. It is a heavy cropper 4 - 5 full size cobs not being uncommon. (8 Seeds)

White Eggplant: It is an annual plant growing 16 in - 57 in tall, often spiny, with large, coarsely lobed leaves 10-20 cm long and 5-10 cm broad. The leaves are sometimes spiny. The flowers are white to purple, with a five-lobed corolla and yellow stamens. The fruit is a fleshy berry, 3 cm diameter on wild plants (much larger in cultivated forms), containing numerous small, soft seeds. Eggplant is an important food crop grown for its large pendulous white or purple fruit. It has been cultivated in southern and eastern Asia countries since prehistory, but appears to have become known to the Western world no more than about 1,500 years ago. The raw fruit has a somewhat disagreeable taste, but when cooked, becomes tender and develops a rich, complex flavour and firm texture. Salting and then rinsing the sliced eggplant can also remove much of its bitterness. It is especially useful culinarily owing to its ability to absorb great amounts of cooking fats, making possible extraordinarily rich dishes. The fruit flesh is smooth; the numerous seeds are soft and (as in the related Tomato) edible along with the rest of the fruit. (15 Seeds)

White Mustard: A tall herb reaching a height of 30-100 cm. The root is a thin taproot, sparsely branching, the stem is cylindrical, and the leaves are deeply lobed pinnate, and petioled. The flowers are yellow and the fruit is a hairy siliquae, 2-8 cm long, with 3-7 seeds. It can be grown in boxes and be cut 6 days from sowing for salad. The seeds are used as spice and yields 30% mustard oil. The oil is used as food, lubricant and illumination, and it also has medicinal properties. The plant attracts bees and is a good honey producer. Annual. Common names include White mustard, English mustard. Scientific synonyms: Brassica alba, B. hirta. White mustard is native of the Mediterranean region and western Asia but also grown and popular in China. It is not commonly grown in the tropics. Mustard should not be sown in the same place within two years. (35 Seeds)

White Pumpkin: White pumpkins, once a novelty, are becoming increasingly common, and these intriguing white orbs are all the rage when it comes to chic autumn decorating. The fruit has a naturally white skin. They're great for carving and even better for painting. They provide great contrast in autumn gourd and pumpkin displays. White pumpkin can also be substituted for orange pumpkin in many recipes, whether you're baking pumpkin pie or concocting a pumpkin soup. The texture and taste is excellent for baking. Try using a hollowed out white pumpkin as an attractive serving tureen. (5 Seeds)