Heart-shaped leaves taste like mild spinach, with young flower clusters and shoots also edible raw or cooked. Defying vegetable rules, this leafy climber loves shade and is a perennial. The plant will need babying the first couple years since it dies back in fall and looks like a weed when it emerges in early spring. Mark its spot really well.
Also called Caucasian mountain spinach.
Native to the Caucasus region where it grows in wooded ravines and forests, it was brought to Scandinavia in the mid-1880s as an attractive vine to screen houses and eventually to be grown as food. Once established, it will need little care as it scrambles up a trellis. Hardy to –40°F. Vulnerable to snails and slugs when young.
Pot Size & Price
4-in. pot
$3.50
Height
8'–12'
Sunlight Exposure
Full Sun
Partial Sun
Catalog
V211
Plant Traits
Culinary
Edible Flowers
New This Year
Stock Notes
Restocks On Saturday