The Royal Family (...of heirloom seeds!)
/Prince George of Cambridge has been big news this past year, and so have our seeds in this royal collection! Just in time for the royal wedding anniversary, we've compiled a list of our most royally-named heirloom, organic, and open-pollinated varieties. Every seed we preserve is special in its own right, but these are sure to make your garden fit for a king or queen.
Formerly known as “Experimental Bean”, this organic bean was later crowned “Empress”. This variety is one of our favorite snap beans for freezing, processing, or eating fresh. We know you’ll love the Empress’ large yields of 5-6” stringless pods.
King of the North Pepper
This variety is truly the King of the North, as he grows robustly during the short and cool growing season. Sweetness of flavor makes for a perfect pepper to stuff or eat fresh.
This golden boy of the bean family was almost lost to extinction, but has now made a comeback. This bean is a prolific grower of stringless pods with an excellent flavor.
Another organic variety, this Sultan is simply green with envy for his golden brother’s exotic look. This bean boasts a classic long, green, and stringless pod. Don’t let his plain suit fool you, this one is tender and delicious.
This okra has ivory-green skin that shines like the queen she truly is. This variety is tender with delicious flavor and great productivity.
This pepper is one of our longest reigning varieties, having joined the Seed Savers Exchange in 1977. Its sweet, thick flesh is an excellent choice for frying.
This queen of the squash varieties was cultivated by Native North Americans. These individual, petite fruits have a soft and furrowed shell with very sweet orange flesh.
Named after one of Italy’s most prominent families, this heirloom gives superb color and flavor when dried. You can expect very heavy yields of its small, plum-shaped fruits.
As her name suggests, this variety boasts regal, lemon-yellow petals. This sturdy organic flower will grow to ten feet tall!
This flower grows to about a foot tall and is a great choice for container growing. Its crimson flowers give a peppery flavor to salads and pastas, so keep this one close at hand!
This heirloom got its name from its use by Victorian women as a perfuming device they carried around in their pockets. Its velvety skin with orange and yellow stripes is just as pretty as the perfume it gives off.
This flower with striking coloration grows to a humble five to seven feet tall. Her strong stems make for a perfect border or cut flowers to put on display.
And a bonus bean...
Royalty Purple Pod Bean- With such a regal name, of course this heirloom boasts that most royal of colors: purple! Purple foliage and flower accompany these five-inch long, stringless pods.
Browse all of Seed Savers Exchange's vegetables, fruits, flowers, transplants, and more in the online store or member-to-member seed exchange!
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Seed Savers Exchangeis a non-profit organization located in Decorah, Iowa, with a mission to conserve and promote America's culturally diverse but endangered garden and food crop heritage for future generations by collecting, growing, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants.
