A cool-season leafy green eaten raw or lightly cooked — among the most fundamental garden vegetables. Bolts (sends up flower stalks) + turns bitter in heat above 70°F per NC State; cool-spring + cool-fall windows are the productive growing periods in most North American climates. Four habit groups: head (iceberg, crisphead), loose-leaf, romaine (cos), and butterhead (Bibb, Boston).

A fast, erect cool-season annual in the mustard family (Brassicaceae), introduced to all of North America from Eurasia and grown widely as a leafy vegetable. NC State Extension describes a rapid-growing plant about 1-1.5 feet tall and wide with large (over 6 inches) leaves — lobed lower leaves and shorter-stalked upper leaves, smooth with a whitish bloom and sometimes purple veins or fully purple coloring. It does best in the cool of fall and spring and bolts in summer heat, throwing up terminal clusters of small four-petaled yellow flowers and developing a strong, spicy flavor. The leaves, seeds, flowers, and stems are all edible raw or cooked, making it a productive, peppery green for the edible garden.

A fast, cool-season leafy annual grown for its tender, vitamin-rich basal rosette of leaves — an excellent source of vitamins A, B, and C plus iron and phosphorus per the Missouri Botanical Garden. Cultivated in Europe since the 1400s and probably native to western Asia, it crops best in the cool temperatures of spring and fall and bolts (sends up greenish-yellow flower spikes of no ornamental value) once summer heat arrives, after which the leaves deteriorate.

A fast cool-season annual of the mustard family grown for its peppery, mustard-like salad greens — irregular, pinnately-lobed basal leaves in a low rosette, each with 4 to 10 small lateral lobes and a large terminal lobe (Missouri Botanical Garden). First cultivated by the ancient Greeks and Romans and still widely grown across Europe, it is best grown in the cooler spring and fall months rather than summer heat; leaves are harvested young and tender before they turn strong and bitter. Pale-yellow four-petalled flowers with dark brown or purple veins appear in corymbs if plants are left to bloom.

An Old World cottage-garden annual grown for daisy- to chrysanthemum-like flowerheads (3-4 inches across) in bright yellow through deep orange, often with a contrasting darker center disk. In cool climates it blooms over a long summer-to-fall window; in hot summers it tends to languish and may need a midseason cutback to rebloom. The somewhat bitter flowers and lance-shaped aromatic leaves are edible, and the petals lend color to soups, rice, and baked goods.

A fast, fine-textured cool-season culinary annual in the carrot family (Apiaceae), native to the Middle East, Russia, and the Caucasus and now grown worldwide. NC State Extension describes an erect, spreading plant about 1-2 feet tall with light green, feathery, finely divided (tripinnate) leaves — like a more delicate parsley — and a mild aniseed scent. Small white five-petaled flowers open in saucer-shaped umbels 1-2 inches across in spring and summer. It is generally grown as an annual (occasionally biennial in milder areas), prefers cool weather in moist, well-drained soil, and is a classic component of French fines herbes, prized for a delicate flavor best used fresh.