mindperformer Posted December 9, 2012 (edited) Garlic Cress (Peltaria alliacea) has a wonderful complex sharp taste, which is often described as mix between cress, mustard and garlic. It has the highest growth rate of all my plants outside in winter (we had frost the whole week) and can be harvested from the snow. It is distributed in Austria, Slowenia, Hungary and Romania, but not in Germany and Switzerland. This is my plant, on 9.12. at -2°C to -7°C outside in winter and it grows unbraked: ...and in the short period of winter-sun: http://www.pfaf.org/...ltaria+alliacea http://www.kraeuter-...oetchen-Pflanze The leaves and flowers can be used for spiciness in salads. Edited December 9, 2012 by mindperformer 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mindperformer Posted December 10, 2012 in my experience the taste is even best in winter and spring, because in summer it starts making bitter compounds Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foo Posted December 10, 2012 Thanks for sharing. Looks like a very cool plant. I will have to try and track some down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mindperformer Posted December 10, 2012 (edited) yes its a unique plant, give it a try, I don't have any seeds left but you can get them there: http://b-and-t-world...cea&sref=440758 I got it as plant last year from http://www.kraeuter-...uftpflanzen.de/ Edited December 10, 2012 by mindperformer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mindperformer Posted December 10, 2012 the taste of garlic cress reminds me on garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), which grows nearly everywhere here in middle Europe, much more common than garlic cress but now in winter the taste modifies more and more to fresh cress Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nothinghead Posted December 14, 2012 (edited) I had some wild chives make it through a few months of snow outdoors. It started growing again the next spring, talk about frost hardy. It's also a fast grower, and is delicious in cooked food or as a garnish. edit. after reading mindperformer's post i realised i'd posted the wrong plant.. Edited December 14, 2012 by raketemensch Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mindperformer Posted December 14, 2012 (edited) wow, a few months of snow are much for a south african plant ;-) my southernmost plant ouside now in winter is Crete Balm (Melissa officinalis ssp. altissima) with its high Rosmarinic acid content and wonderful orange-smell, ideal for tee The other cold hardy plants outside in snow (on the balcony) are Common Arrowgrass (Triglochin maritima, with a salty taste), Alpine Sorrel (Oxyria digyna with a sour taste), Sanicle (Sanicula europaea), Redstem wormwood (Artemisia scoparia), Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca), Bracken, Epazote-seeds, Willow, Eclipta alba, Cardamine amara (wonderful cress taste, ideal chopped in curd), Fool's water cress (Apium nodiflorum, with its wonderful carrot taste), Lancea tibetica, Hypericum hircinum, Chocolate Mint, Mojito Mint, Nepeta fassenii (syn. mussinii, syn. racemosa), Perovskia abrotanoides, Lythrum salicaria, Buxus sempervirens, Masterwort (Peucedanum ostruthium), Arctic raspberry (Rubus arcticus), Tibetan raspberry (Rubus tibeticus), Hemerocallis citrina, Juneberry (Amelanchier lamarckii), Wild Chive (Allium schoenoprasum) and a big Schisandra chinensis In a cool room are Ashitaba (Angelica keiskei koidzumi), Stevia rebaudiana, Mandragora officinalis, Embiribiri (or Umusunusunu, Crassocephalum vitellinum), Chocolate cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus), False Sea Onion (Ornithogalum caudatum), Stapelia gigantea, Opuntia cylindrica, Glasswort (Arthrocnemum glaucum with a salty taste), Queen of the Night (Selenicereus grandiflorus) and Zingiber mioga Edited December 14, 2012 by mindperformer 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites