Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-201
Wild Rocket
Diplotaxis tenuifolia
Wild rocket is a perennial, deep-rooted relative of common arugula with the same peppery flavor turned up a notch - strong enough that it is usually eaten mixed into a salad rather than alone. One planting keeps producing from early spring into autumn, and it holds fresh leaves right through mild winters, so it never needs the repeated re-sowing an annual green does. Summer heat does not kill it, but it stops making leaves and starts flowering instead, which turns out to be useful, since its shallow flowers are a magnet for hoverflies and short-tongued bees whose larvae prey on aphids. It tolerates poor, dry, alkaline soil and resprouts readily after being cut, staying put as a clump rather than spreading.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 5–9
- Soil
- Sand · Silt · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained · Moderate · Moist
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- Not yet recorded
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 6–24 in
- Mature spread
- 12–24 in
- Plant spacing
- 12–36 in
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
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Adzuki Bean
Vigna angularis (Willd.) Ohwi & H.Ohashi
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African Eggplant
Solanum aethiopicum
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Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatoria
Agrimony is a slender herbaceous perennial of sunny, disturbed ground across Europe and western Asia, grown mainly for the tannin-rich leaves…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Alfalfa is a deep-rooted perennial legume grown worldwide as one of the richest forage crops available, its taproot running six metres or…
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Alsike Clover
Trifolium hybridum
Alsike Clover fixes nitrogen in wet, acid ground too cold and heavy for red clover to thrive in, and its flowers keep bees working all season…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranth greens are one of the few leafy vegetables actually built for peak summer heat rather than one that just tolerates it - sown once…
Herbaceous · USDA 2–11
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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