Daubenton Perennial Kale x Purple Sprouting Broccoli

In 2012, I crossed a Daubenton Perennial Kale with a Purple Sprouting Broccoli that just happened to flower at the same time! The seed (collected from the Daubenton) were sown in Spring 2013. 12 plants were overwintered (in a cold cellar as they usually die outside here) and I planted them out in the garden in spring 2014. The resultant plants were a mix of short plants like Daubenton and tall plants like the broccoli! The dream here is a perennial purple sprouting kale…. They were overwintered again from 2014 to 2015 and a few of the taller plants are now producing broccolis. I will monitor the plants to see if any continue to perennialise.

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June 2012, I transferred pollen from a flowering Early Purple Broccoli to a Daubenton
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…bagged Daubenton flowers
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This is the Daubenton (left) that was the parent! Variegated Daubenton on the right…
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Seed pods developed
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The seed were sown early Spring 2013 and all plants were overwintered in the cellar and planted in a bed (quite close spacing) early April 2014: Here they are today just before harvesting, quite a mix, some tall, resembking broccoli and some short like Daubenton.
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…and all still alive although at least two flowered
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I dug them up ready to move into the cellar.
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Layed out to take pictures. As you will see in the next pictures, there is a mix of different leaf colour, one had reddish ribs, different heights, some sprouting low down on the stem etc.
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Notice this one had flowered and seeded and a new branch had grown away.
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Spring 2015: Several of the taller Daubenton x Purple Sprouting Broccoli plants (sown spring 2013) overwintered in the cellar have produced purple sprouts. They are now being planted back in the garden (they’ve all been planted densely so as not to use up much space. I’ll now monitor them to see if any regenerate…. The one shown in the picture is interesting as a long stem broke off when I was harvesting to overwinter in the cellar (kales will normally not manage the winter here). I just pushed the broken stem deep into the soil and it made roots and survived the record mild winter…

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Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden