Fairy Tale Hybrid Eggplant Seeds

Days to Maturity: 50 from transplant

All-America Selections (AAS) Winner 2005

An eggplant as beautiful as it is delicious. Fairy Tale Hybrid really is all about happiily-ever-afters—now you can grow the loveliest, most tender-sweet fruits of your gardening career right on the patio in containers. Handsome enough for the annual flower bed but ready to produce enough yummy fruits to keep everyone coming back for seconds, Fairy Tale Hybrid is the eggplant you must try this season. No wonder it won an All-America Selection.

This dwarf reaches just 18 to 24 inches high and wide, setting masses of showy purple-lavender blooms all over its well-branched form. These are followed by eggplants in clusters of 2 to 4. Very slender and long, they are neon-lavender with bold streaks of white—absolutely showstopping.

And the flavor is the best part of all. Pick Fairy Tales young—about 4 inches—and sink your teeth into the most tender, sweet, succulent eggplant you've ever tasted. No bitterness here.

Fairy Tale Hybrid has been awarded an All-America Selection for its revolutionary habit and look, but I think its best merit is flavor. Plan to design your garden around this splendid edible ornamental.

Begin seeds indoors 8 to 10 weeks before planning to set out. Eggplant is a warm-weather crop, so wait until after danger of frost before transplanting seedlings into the sunny garden. Set 18 inches apart.