Red Giant Ornamental Mustard is a tough, showy plant that can be used as an ornamental and/or as edible mustard greens. It has textured foliage that starts out light green with a hint of reddish-purple. As it matures, the foliage turns more purple then finally to dark shades of purple. It’s stems remain green as do some of the leaf veins.
Red Giant Mustard looks great when planted with pansies, ornamental kale and mums. It’s dark foliage provides an nice contrast with the brightly colored pansy and mum blooms. It grows in a loose head of leaves and is bolt resistant.
As edible mustard greens, it has a nice, zesty flavor. When you pick your mustard greens, harvest leaf by leaf and don’t pull up the entire plant that way you can keep enjoying your greens for as long as the mustard is able to produce them.
Red Giant is cold hardy and is a nice companion plant to Swiss Chard and Kale in flower bed, containers or in your vegetable garden with fall cole crops.
Mustard can be pickled, wilted or eaten raw. Red Giant Mustard’s older leaves have more flavor. Additionally, hot weather intensifies the flavor.
Red Giant is a fast grower and is spicier with a horseradish flavor than other traditional mustards.
We grow Red Giant in our #6 Fall Annuals.
Plant Red Giant Ornamental Mustard 10-16″ apart in full sun to part sun in well-drained soil. Grows 12-16″ tall.
If you plant Red Giant Mustard for mustard greens, plant close together to promote proper leaf size for harvesting of baby leaves at about 3-6″. Or you can wait until the leaves are fully mature for spicier flavor.
Looking for more fall plants? Check out these links: