Days to Maturity: 80 from setting out transplants

Big, succulent, flavorful fruits look as good as they taste!

An heirloom treasure with mild, bitter-free flavor within beautiful lavender-ivory fruits, Rosa Bianca is destined to become your go-to eggplant for gourmet meals. Fortunately, it looks as good as it tastes, and you may find yourself wondering why you don't grow it among your flowering annuals as well as in the veggie garden. Our advice: do it!

These eggplants reach 5 to 6 inches in diameter, with a plump, oval-to-round shape, often featuring pumpkin-like ridges. These fruits are simply packed with aroma and flavor. Rosa Bianca takes a couple weeks longer to mature than contemporary varieties, and is worth every minute of it!

This certified organic seed produces plants that are very heavy-bearing (unlike many heirlooms). Expect 8 to 10 fruits per plant. The plant is fairly compact at 3 feet high and 2 feet wide, but you will want to stake or cage the fruits as they grow large and heavy, to keep the stems from toppling.

Begin seeds indoors 8 to 10 weeks before planning to set out. Eggplant loves heat, so the seeds germinate best at about 75 degrees Fahrenheit—use a heat mat if possible beneath your Bio Dome or seed flat, or find another source of bottom heat if your house is cooler than this. Cover the seeds lightly if sowing in a seed flat; if using the Bio Dome, just drop one seed in the pre-drilled hole in each Bio Sponge. They will germinate in about 1 to 2 weeks.

Eggplant seedlings crave heat and light; give them all you can (grow lights are wonderful, but kitchen fluorescents work well too if the seedlings are placed directly beneath them), and feed them weekly. They are ready to transplant whenever they have at least 2 sets of true leaves, but wait until the outside weather is thoroughly warm before transplanting into the garden. They love climates with warm summer nights, but are quite adaptable.

Pkt of 30 seeds