Roxanne Hybrid Radish Seeds

Days to Maturity: 27 from direct sow

All-America Selections (AAS) Winner 2015

To quote the song, Roxanne has really "put on the red dress" when it comes to this award-winning radish. Perfectly round, crisp globes up to 1½ inches in diameter grow in just about any climate and finish in under a month. And even if they don't get harvested promptly or receive a bit too much heat and sun, they refuse to sacrifice their flavor, texture, or color.

Roxanne won an All-America Selection for its garden performance, so you know that gardeners across the country, in a wide range of climates and conditions, have grown it successfully. The AAS judges noted that this radish stayed firm and solid even when it grew oversized, and that it had no "bleeding" (loss of bright red outer color), streaking (red streaks in the white flesh), or pithiness (mealy texture) even when held for a long time past its harvest. This means less waste and worry for you.

This spicy, flavorful radish has pure white flesh, a crispy crunchy bite, and a diameter of between 1 and 1½ inches on plants with about 8 to 10 inches of aboveground growth. In the garden, the plants should be spaced about 6 inches apart. But Roxanne is also compact enough to grow in any container with a depth of about 4 inches or greater. Fun kitchen windowsill project.

Radishes are a cool-season crop, thriving in spring, fall, and in mild climates, even winter. They are the quickest to finish of all the garden veggies, making them a good choice for children's gardens.

Roxanne is easy to grow and quick to harvest. Before planting, fertilize the soil and make sure that it is as loose, moist, and rich as possible, since the root needs space to develop and has little time to push its way through heavy soils. If you're planting to successively sow radish seed all season (recommended for a steady diet of delicious eating), fertilize the soil again about 2 weeks after planting. Direct-sow successively every week from earliest spring until late spring or early summer, then again in late summer and fall for autumn and early-winter crops.