Leek Blue Solaise

The French heritage leek with a colour that announces itself across a winter garden. Not the usual green but a striking blue-grey, deepening as the weather turns cold. Bleu de Solaise has been grown in France since at least 1885, valued equally for its hardiness, its thick sweet shanks and its looks.

It survives to minus fifteen without protection, which means it simply stands in the ground from October to March and you lift what you need. The shanks run to 25 or 30cm of usable white and pale blue stem, substantial enough for the winter kitchen rather than thin and disappointing.

A row of them through November, blue foliage upright while everything around has been cut down, is one of the better sights in a winter garden. Worth a position where you will see it from the house.