25 Types of Lettuce For Your Garden

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Growing vegetables is a rewarding journey that will end with fresh food and a cheaper grocery bill. Choosing the right type of vegetables is an important part of the process, especially when it comes to lettuce.

There are several types of lettuce for your garden that you can choose from and you may even be inclined to grow a few different ones. Each type of lettuce offers a different texture and flavor.

Here are 25 types of lettuce for your garden and why they may be the right choice for your backyard.

Romaine Varieties

Fresh green romaine lettuce on a wooden background

Romaine lettuce grows upright and has a crisp texture that makes it ideal for salads and sandwiches. It tends to be rather flavorful and is the main lettuce utilized by chefs when preparing Caesar salads.

Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo romaine lettuce is a great option if you are looking for a smaller, more compact romaine that packs a lot of nutrients. The leaves on this lettuce are dark green and each head takes about 46 days to grow to maturity.

It is heat resistant, which means it does well in warmer climates. This variety of romaine can be harvested when it is small or you can wait for them to grow to a medium size

Cimarron

Cimarron romaine lettuce has light green leaves with a hint of red that measure up to 12 inches in length. This variety is cold and heat resistant which means it can flourish in cooler weather as well as warmer.

Since this is a larger romaine option, the seeds for this lettuce take up to 70 days to mature. Cimarron lettuce has a great taste, yields a large crop, and it is a great option for most gardens.

Fusion

Fusion lettuce is technically a cross between romaine lettuce and green leaf lettuce, but it tastes just like a romaine. The leaves are medium green, large, and have rippled ends like green leaf lettuce varieties.

Fusion lettuce is an organic option that takes about 55 days to reach full maturity. The lettuce heads on this variety will grow rather large and yield a heavier crop than others.

Pandero

Pandero lettuce is a miniature-sized romaine lettuce that features dark purple leaves that are simply breathtaking. The leaves have a sweet, mild taste and the plant does well in heat but is also able to grow in cooler temperatures.

This lettuce plant only grows to about six inches in diameter, so it will do great in smaller gardens that need more compact plants.

Jericho

Jericho romaine is a light green-colored lettuce that grows very fast and can be harvested as mini or baby leaf maturity. This means that it can be considered mature at only 29 days.

It is considered an organic romaine and it is very heat tolerant, so it will perform well even in warmer climates.

Rouge d’Hiver

Rouge d’Hiver romaine lettuce is a popular French heirloom lettuce that is extremely tasty and performs phenomenally in cold climates. The leaves have a red tint on the ends with a light green core.

This type of lettuce does not do well in warmer climates, so gardeners in the south may not have great luck. It takes only 28 days if you want to harvest as baby leaves or you can wait 50 days for larger leaf yields.

Salvius

Salvius lettuce is a type of romaine lettuce that has medium green leaves and tastes wonderful. It is crisp and grows to maturity in about 58 days.

Salvius is heat resistant so it will thrive even in warm climates.

Vivian

Vivian romaine lettuce is an absolutely gorgeous and tasty lettuce that features crispy, deep green leaves that measure between 12 inches and 16 inches long.

This type of lettuce does best in full sun and the seeds take about 70 days to mature.

Butterhead Varieties

Butterhead lettuce tends to have a sweet, buttery flavor and a smooth texture. All types of butterhead lettuce can be grown in a garden or in tubs.

North Pole

North Pole butterhead lettuce is a great option for most gardeners. It features light, bright green leaves and it will reach full maturation within 50 days.

The leaves on North Pole lettuce can grow up to 10 inches in length and it does well in both full and low sunlight areas.

Buttercrunch Head

Buttercrunch head is a type of butterhead lettuce that has a great mild taste and exquisite deep green leaves. This variety is heat tolerant meaning that it does well in warm climates.

Buttercrunch head lettuce matures in about 65 days and will grow to about eight inches high. This is a compact lettuce and it requires full sun.

Sylvesta

Sylvesta is another great butterhead lettuce that hails from Germany and is a perfect addition to practically any garden. Its leaves have a medium-green color and the leaves are crispy and full of flavor.

This is a great option because it can be planted in two different seasons, fall and spring. It takes about 52 days to reach full maturity.

Nancy

Nancy lettuce is a type of butterhead lettuce that is simply adorable and extremely delicious. It is a popular choice among gardeners because it grows well, resists bottom rot, and only takes 52 days to reach maturity.

This lettuce has a beautiful medium green color and large leaves that look absolutely appetizing.

Tom Thumb

Just like the name implies, Tom Thumb lettuce is a type of miniature-sized butterhead lettuce. Gardeners looking for smaller lettuce crops will love this variety thanks to its compact size and delightful flavor.

It does best in cool climates and tends to go bad in warmer environments. The leaves are medium-green and the plant itself should not grow bigger than five inches in diameter.

Iceberg Varieties

Raw Organic Round Crisp Iceberg Lettuce on the table

Iceberg lettuce varieties are dense and tend to have crispy leaves, however, the taste is often lacking when compared to other varieties. In America, it is considered the most common type of lettuce.

Jester Iceberg

Jester iceberg does not look like regular iceberg lettuce but it tastes amazing. This is an open-head variety, which means the leaves are spread apart, almost like an open flower.

The leaves on Jester iceberg lettuce are crinkled and green with splatters of deep red and purple throughout.

Ithaca

Ithaca lettuce is another type of iceberg lettuce that has superior crispiness and is perfect for gardens in the southern states because of its high heat tolerance. The leaves on Ithaca lettuce are light green and it grows closed and compact.

This lettuce will mature in about 65 days and it requires full sun. It can be planted in the spring months as well as the fall.

Gildenstern

Gildenstern lettuce is a miniature type of iceberg lettuce that has gorgeous light green, crispy leaves that grow to about four inches in diameter.

It is a hardy lettuce that does well in colder temperatures.

Crispino

Crispino iceberg lettuce is a crispy, medium-green lettuce that grows in round heads of lettuce, much like those you purchase at the grocery store. It takes about 57 days for each plant to reach maturity.

Crispino lettuce does well in warm weather and is relatively easy for most gardeners to grow. It is a great iceberg option for the majority of gardens.

Loose-Leaf Varieties

Loose-leaf lettuce is not confined to a main head of lettuce but instead is harvested as loose leaves. It makes a great addition to any salad.

Red Salad Bowl Loose-Leaf

Red salad bowl loose-leaf lettuce is a gorgeous deep burgundy color. The leaves are thin and long, but the taste is delightful.

This type of lettuce does well in warm climates and takes about 50 days to reach maturity. It does great in full sunlight, but it can also thrive in partial sunlight as well.

Green Ice Leaf

Green ice leaf is a loose-leaf lettuce that is deep green with wavy, crinkled edges. The leaves grow up to nine inches long and are extra crispy.

This lettuce is fully grown and ready to harvest at 45 days. It does not perform well during winter months.

Black-Seeded Simpson

Black-seeded simpson lettuce is a popular loose-leaf lettuce that features soft, medium-green leaves with crinkled ends. It has a flavorful taste and it does well in warm and cool environments.

This type of lettuce does best when planted in the spring months and it takes about 45 days to mature. It can thrive in full sun as well as partial sunlight.

Deer Tongue

Deer tongue lettuce is a loose-leaf lettuce that has leaves shaped like tongues or rounded triangles, hence the name. The leaves are light to medium green in color and they are very tasty.

Deer tongue lettuce may seem like a slow grower at first, but it should be fully mature somewhere between 28 to 50 days.

It is a very heat tolerant lettuce, so it does well in warmer areas.

Ilema

Ilema lettuce is a dark green lollo loose-leaf lettuce with crinkled ends and a very voluminous crop yield. It grows to maturity at about 55 days.

It can be grown all year-round and it does best in an open field setting.

Dark Red Lollo Rossa

Dark red lollo rossa lettuce is a red loose-leaf lettuce that originated in Italy and features gorgeous deep-red leaves that have wavy ends. It is a compact, but large type of lettuce.

Dark red lollo rossa lettuce has a very delicious taste and it matures between 45 and 53 days, depending on the size you want to harvest. This is a great option to add a little color and variety to your garden.

Lettuce Mixes

Fresh lettuce crop leaves variety in farm garden. Lettuce different varieties

Lettuce mixes are a great way to grow a blended lettuce crop in your garden. These lettuce mixes are ideal for making salads.

Allstar Gourmet Lettuce Mix

The Allstar Gourmet lettuce mix is a special blend of lettuce types including red and green oakleaf, red romaine, red leaf, and lollo rossa. This provides a mix of texture and a variety of colors.

This is a great option if you are looking for a tasty and healthy salad mix to grow in your garden. It only takes this mix about 28 days to reach maturity.

Eazyleaf Mix Lettuce

This is a great mixed lettuce option because it is not only gorgeous when harvested, but it features a great mix of green and red varieties.

This mix includes some short-stem lettuce varieties like Bellevue oakleaf, Hampton oakleaf, and Erzilla frisee.

Final Thoughts

There are so many different types of lettuce for your garden, however, now you know some of the best options that you have to choose from.

Think about what kind of lettuce you prefer to eat and find the right one or ones that fit your backyard setup and climate conditions.

Resources:

Researching the different types of lettuce for your garden was an educational experience. Here are the sources used for this article.