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Claytonia

Vegetable (Cool Season) - Salad Greens

Also known as Miner’s lettuce, winter purslane
Claytonia perfoliata
Portulacaceae Family
Synonym: Montia perfoliata

This cool-season salad green readily self-seeds and can overwinter in Zone 6 and warmer. While somewhat aggressive, it makes a handsome low-growing cover for edible landscaping.

	Site and Plant Characteristics
	Growing Information
	Varieties

Site Characteristics

Sunlight:

full sun
part shade

Prefers part shade in hot weather.

Soil conditions:

tolerates low fertility

Prefers moist, sandy-loam soils, rich in organic matter, near-netural pH 6.5 to 7. Needs consistent moisture.

Hardiness zones:

6 to 9

Often overwinters unprotected in Zone 6, and can be grown as a winter crop in Zone 7.

Plant Traits

Lifecycle: perennial

Usually grown as an annual in Zone 5 and colder.

Ease-of-care: easy

Flower color: white

Foliage color: dark green

Foliage texture: medium

Shape: cushion, mound or clump

Special Considerations

Tolerates:

frost - Tolerates moderate frost

Special characteristics:

native to North America - Native to western North America from British Columbia to Mexico.

Special uses:

edible flowers - Unlike most cool-season salad greens, claytonia maintains flavor and quality even when in flower. Hot weather turns it bitter.
edible landscaping - Low-growing, cool-season salad green with dark green foliage and small white flowers.

Growing Information

How to plant:

Propagate by seed

Germination temperature: 50 F to 55 F

Days to emergence: 7 to 10

Seed can be saved 5 years.

Maintenance and care:

4 to 6 weeks before last spring frost, direct seed � inch deep, � inch apart in rows 8 to 12 inches apart.
Make succession plantings from early to midspring. Resume plantings in late summer to midfall for fall and winter harvest.
Thin to 2 to 3 inches if harvesting cut-and-come-again style, or 4 to 6 inches if harvesting leaves individually.
Unlike most greens, claytonia maintains flavor and quality even when plants flower. Flavor turns bitter in hot weather.
Plants may overwinter in Zone 6 and warmer. Can be grown as a winter crop in a cold frame in Zones 4 and 5.

Varieties

Browse claytonia varieties at our Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners website.
Cultivated plants are essentially unimproved from those found in the wild.