Exotic Seeds: Rare Veg and Ethnobotanicals for Home Growers

Biggest myth about exotic seeds: that they all need a heated greenhouse and a tropical postcode. Amsoi Red shrugs off frost, komatsuna goes in any time from early spring to autumn, and the Violet de Provence artichoke is a perennial that only wants a cover through winter. The second myth is that everything filed under "exotic" is the same kind of plant. It isn't. Half of this shelf is unusual fruit and veg for the kitchen, half is ethnobotanical seed for collectors, and the two want completely different handling.

Unusual Fruit and Veg That Cope With a British Summer

Most of the edible half starts under glass or on a windowsill, then goes out once the last frost has passed. Nothing here is difficult; a few are just slower than a courgette.

Odd fruit: husk tomatoes, horned melon and bitter gourd

Tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa) is the Mexican husk tomato that predates Columbus, sown indoors, moved out in spring, then given well-draining soil, full sun and regular organic feed. Kiwano hides a jelly-like flesh that tastes somewhere between lemon and banana behind a spiky orange skin, and it needs a genuinely warm spot to finish. Bitter gourd gets four weeks inside, then the summer outdoors, and is usually ready around October. Watch out for the name: it means it, so it works better next to fish or meat than on its own. Lemon Apple Cucumber is round, pale and sweet under glass, while Cucumber Bella F1 is the long crisp one that shakes off mildew.

Rare herbs and quick-cutting Asian greens

Amsoi Red brings a hot mustard bite to salads, handles cold, and can be cut several times. Komatsuna wants nitrogen-rich, moisture-retentive soil and a mulch on top. The Mixed Asian Greens pack goes in around early March and gives young leaves through to the end of August, with pak choi, tatsoi, taisai, chard, Chinese cabbage, leaf mustard and purple frills all in one sowing. Garlic Chives release that soft garlic smell when you brush past them; if you want the plain onion version, Chives 'Medium Fine' goes outside once seedlings reach about 10 cm. Stevia germinates indoors, moves out in mid-summer and prefers a pH of 6.7 to 7.2.

Desert Cacti, Jointed Shrubs and the Ma Huang Question

Yes, Ephedra sinica seed is on this page, sold as ma huang in packs of 20. Treat it like its American cousin: shallow sowing in a sandy, free-draining mix, plenty of warmth and a lot of patience. Green Mormon Tea (Ephedra viridis) goes in no deeper than 5 mm and usually shows in about two weeks, but germination is irregular, so don't bin a tray early. It's also dioecious, male or female per plant, which is why sowing several from the 20-seed pack matters. Peyote (Lophophora williamsii) wants a mineral mix of roughly 50% sand, 25% grit or bims and 25% potting soil, minimum 10°C and hard sun; it stays low and globular for years, so if you'd rather watch a cactus climb, San Pedro (Echinopsis pachanoi) is far quicker. Khat comes as 10 seeds, sprouts within a week in a well-draining cactus mix, and gets repotted at 5-10 cm, though the seedlings are prone to fungus. Kanna, Aztec Tobacco and Tobacco fill out the rest. Growing notes only on this half of the shelf; these are collector plants, not salad.

Ornamental Mixes and Where We'd Start

Japanese Flower Carpet goes in during April and fills a bed or a row with colour by summer on nothing more than sun and regular water. Pumpkin on a Stick works twice over, fruit and leaves both edible, or dried for arrangements. Eggplant 'Rosa Bianca' is a white globe streaked with lavender, next to 'Black Beauty' as the classic dark-skinned original. On tomatoes you get Cocktail 'Thai Pink Egg' and the near-black Indigo Rose, with striped Tigerella as the other heirloom option. Can't pick? The Zammi's Farm Exotic Seed Pack bundles six of these (Pumpkin on a Stick, Kiwano, Lemon Apple Cucumber, Tomatillo, Garlic Chives and Indigo Rose) and it's what we'd hand a first-timer. Collectors chasing the Ephedra genus should skip the pack and buy the 20-seed packs on their own.