Purple Selection Collards

Ultracross Collards - Purple Selection 

Seeds per packet ~ 70

Germination 90% Oct 2024, Packed for 2025

In 2020 The Utopian Seed Project (USP) grew 21 varieties of heirloom collards. An extreme temperature swing that winter, with a low of 8F, killed about 40% of the plants. The winter survivors flowered and set seed, which became the basis for the Ultracross Collards. Members of USP shared those collards widely they received a lot of comments about the beautiful purples that were showing up in the mix.

These seeds represent a first step in selecting for a completely purple ultracross collard population. In 2022 and 2023, seeds were saved from any plants showing purple coloration, and the photos are of plants from those seeds.

The Utopian Seed Project will be continuing to rogue out greener plants and save seeds from the purple plants and this mix will get more and more purple. However, there are a lot of exciting phenotypes and we want you to have the opportunity to make your own selections!

Anecdotally, they have noticed that the purple collards seem to be both more collard hardy and more pest resistant. We'd love to hear about your own experiences!