• All Herbs
• Medicinal Herbs
• Scented Herbs
• Culinary Herbs
• Minimum Order: 3 and multiples of 3 of 9cm size. Single 1 litre pot items

Orache, Red - Atriplex hortensis var. rubra

Type: Annual

Red Orache, or Atriplex hortensis rubra, is also known as Red or Wild Mountain Spinach, and is an annual flowering plant whose leaves are edible to some degree. Common Orache typically grows to 75cm tall and is in flower from July to September with its seeds ripening from August to October. The flowers themselves are fairly nondescript, and are followed by decorative seedheads - the most striking aspect of the plant is it's beetroot red leaves. These are delicious in salads when picked young and tender. 

The plant can reach heights of 1.2m, and tends to grow in moderately rich ground and requires a moist sunny position.

The young leaves can be used raw in salads or can be cooked as a spinach substitute. The seeds can also be ground and mixed into cornmeal, or used as a thickener to soups (though they are more than a little difficult to harvest, to say the least!)