More winter salad plants that we can all grow in the garden.
Montia sibirica. Pink purslane is a short-lived perennial, but it self-sows freely and maintains itself so well that it can be used as a ground cover plant. Only about 10cm tall, it is evergreen and both the leaves and flowers can be eaten. It has a fairly bland flavour, though it becomes somewhat bitter in hot dry weather. M. perfoliata, the miner's lettuce, is an annual that self-sows freely and is also usually available all through the winter. Both of these plants are extremely hardy, they are native to Alaska and Siberia where they can be harvested from under the snow even in the depths of winter.
Myrrhis odorata. Our native Sweet Cicely has a delightful aniseed flavour and it goes very well as flavouring in a mixed salad. It dies down in early winter but if you are lucky you can start picking it again in early February. The seed is said to have a short viability and is best sown as soon as it is ripe. A well-grown plant is about 1 metre tall and wide.
Peltaria alliacea. A very easily grown plant, it has a rather strong garlic/mustard flavour that some people adore in salads. It becomes much more bitter in the summer. An evergreen herb about 10cm tall it spreads freely once established.
Horticultural.
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