Grow These 3 Lettuces for Beauty and Deliciousness

When you walk by the lettuce isle at the grocery store it's a real snore-fest. Don't get me wrong, some upscale grocery stores have a few interesting varieties but lettuce is so easy to grow from seed and there are so many wonderful seed varieties available that I'm all about works-of-art salads now. Gorgeous varieties whose colors compliment each other like an expensive designer outfit.  These three are my current favorites for a beautiful and delicious salad.

1. Romaine "Freckles" from Botanical Interests.  I love this one for its flavor but also because the leaves are green with red flecks which is awesome.  Like all salad greens, this one can be harvested early or allowed to grow larger. This variety tolerates heat well in my garden.
2. "Sea of Red" from Renee's Garden.  This variety has deep red leaves, is heat tolerant and it's slightly stronger flavor adds interest to any salad. 
3. Tango lettuce from Johnny's.  This one is bright green, also heat tolerant and and in combination with the Freckles and Sea of Red, makes a salad masterpiece.  

It probably sounds crazy but when I'm harvesting lettuce from my garden for a dinner salad, my mood, ...what I want the salad to look like, is a high priority. I start clipping leaves in color combinations that feel good, tweaking as I go until the bowl is full and I get that feeling of standing in front of a mirror staring at a reflection and thinking this outfit looks good.  I feel good!  The multi colored "Freckles" makes me think of a beautifully patterned skirt with so many subtle shades of green and red that I could stare at each leaf for hours just trying to identify them all.  Tango is like a beautiful frilly pale shirt, simple but elegant the way it lays over the top of Freckles. Sea of Red, the shoes that add a punch of color. 

Lettuce is probably the easiest thing to grow from seed. Just broadcast the seeds over soil then water and in a few days they should be sprouting.  

Do you have a favorite combination of salad greens you like to grow? If so, I'd love it if you'd share it with us.