What lettuce grows well in summer?

QUESTION: What lettuce grows well in summer? I’m worried that it gets too hot here in the late summer months to grow lettuce. -Kelly W

ANSWER: By planting a few seeds every two weeks or so, gardeners in many parts of the world can grow lettuce year round. Most varieties of salad greens really thrive in the cool and mild times of year, when temperatures are 60 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. If you live in a particularly hot region, you’ll need to seek out heat-resistant varieties like the ones we’ve listed here if you want to grow your own lettuce through the heat of the summer months.

This list isn’t all-encompassing, as creating a list of every heat resistant lettuce in existence would be just about impossible. Any type that is labeled “heat resistant” on its packaging or in the product description should suit your purposes. In addition to nurseries, garden centers, and online retailers, don’t forget about opportunities such as shopping days at your local farmer’s markets, trading with friends or neighbors who garden, and participating in seed exchanges in person or online so you can track down the best types of lettuce for your gardening conditions.

• Adriana: Butterhead variety that produces large heat-tolerant plants with dark green leaves. 48 days to maturity.

• Anuenue Batavian: A small, heat-tolerant variety of Batavian crisphead lettuce. 55 days to maturity.

• Black Seeded Simpson: This heirloom variety is one of the tenderest types of leaf lettuce. In addition to resisting heat, it also resists drought and frost. 45 days to harvest.

• Bronze Arrow Looseleaf: Oak-shaped leaves tipped in bronze are slow to bolt and known for high yields as well as heat tolerance. 60 days to maturity.

• Buttercrunch Bibb: A compact butterhead that resists lettuce’s tendency to respond to changing conditions or environmental struggles by giving in to stress (and the physical symptoms that go along with stress), withstands heat well, and is slow to bolt. 55 days to maturity.

• Capitan Bibb: A buttery-tasting Dutch butterhead lettuce that resists both hot and cold temperatures as well as lettuce mosaic virus. 62 days to maturity.

• Cherokee: This Batavian lettuce grows as a loose leaf early on, maturing into a heavier, more compact head with time. The dark red leaves are thick and crunchy, with a nutty flavor and no bitterness. Excellent resistance to heat and very slow to bolt; also highly resistant to bottom rot and downy mildew. 48 days to maturity.

• Coastal Star: A full-size Romaine that produces sturdy, heavy heads of sweet, dark green leaves. Intermediate resistance to corky root; 57 days to maturity.

• Concept: This cross between summer crisp and Romaine lettuces produces thick, juicy leaves arranged in a whorl shape. It tolerates summer heat well without growing bitter and withstands chilly fall weather, too. 51 days to maturity.

• Darwin: This oak leaf lettuce does well in cold weather as well as heat, but it needs shade in the afternoons. Tender light green leaves are deeply lobed and rarely turn bitter. Slow to bolt, except for in wet conditions. 55 days to maturity.

• Grand Rapids TBR: This loose leaf lettuce grows quickly into medium-large well-bunched heads with crisp, bright green frilled leaves. Resistant to heat but also suited to cool weather, slow to bolt, and resists tipburn. 45 days to maturity.

• Green Ice: This loose leaf variety developed in the 1960s is known for its glossy, ruffled dark green leaves that almost resemble kale. The Green Ice lettuce variety is extra crunchy and super sweet. Resistant to heat and slow to bolt. 55 days to maturity.

• Green Salad Bowl: A quickly growing leaf lettuce that rarely becomes bitter while being resistant to heat and slow to bolt.

• Green Star: A medium-sized leaf lettuce with shiny, attractive leaves that resists tipburn, downy mildew, and bolting along with tolerating heat well. 1952 All-American Selections winner; 53 days to maturity.

• Green Vision: A slow to bolt, heat resistant leaf lettuce with ruffled, glossy dark green leaves. 54 days to maturity.

• Jericho: This blonde variety of Romaine hails from Israel, making it especially resistant to heat as well as tipburn and bolting. It grows quickly into heavy heads of densely packed sword-shaped leaves that are crisp and sweet. 60 days to maturity.

• Kinemontpas: A classic French butterhead with tender leaves that produces heat resistant plants that are slow to bolt. 60 days to maturity.

• Lollo Bionda: A space-saving Italian green leaf heirloom lettuce with fringed, ruffled edges and a loose heart. 53 days to maturity.

• Lollo Rossa: Variety of leaf lettuce with red and green leaves that withstand heat as well as hard freezes. 53 days to maturity.

• Magenta: This heat tolerant leaf lettuce produces beautiful bronze-edged leaves with a pale green heart. Magenta lettuce is known for staying crisp in summer and having a long shelf life, and it’s also resistant to lettuce mosaic virus and downy mildew. 48 days to maturity.

• Michelle: This French-imported Batavian crisphead has leaves that resist tipburn and bolting. In cool weather, this lettuce develops a reddish tinge. 55 days to maturity.

• Muir: Reported to be the most heat tolerant lettuce on the market, Muir also resists bolting, tipburn, downy mildew, the Nasonovia nibisnigri aphid, and tomato bushy stunt virus (also called lettuce dieback complex), with intermediate resistance to lettuce mosaic virus. Produces dense heads of extra-wavy light green leaves with a well-filled heart. Noted for crisp leaves and bright flavor. 50 days to maturity.

• Nevada: This mild-flavored crisphead variety grows to form heavy, dense closed heads. In addition to tolerating heat well, Nevada lettuce also resists tipburn, bottom rot, and bolting. 48 days to maturity.

• New Red Fire: This loose leaf lettuce produces a large head of striking red ruffled leaves with a green heart that don’t turn bitter. It’s resistant to cold as well as heat and withstands bolting. 55 days to maturity.

• Oakleaf Looseleaf: This heirloom loose leaf lettuce from the early 1700s grows its long, frilly lobed leaves from a single stalk, making it simple to harvest as well as resistant to hot temperatures. 45 days to maturity.

• Red Cross: This species of butterhead with large red leaves is resistant to downy mildew as well as hot weather. 48 days to maturity.

• Red Deer Tongue: This heirloom leaf lettuce variety is strikingly solid red and produces triangular leaves. Tolerant of heat and slow to bolt, it was a favorite of pioneer farmers. 75 days to maturity.

• Red Sails: A quickly growing red leaf lettuce that resists heat and produces ruffled leaves that have a sweet flavor. 1985 All-American Selection winner; 45 days to maturity.

• Red Saladbowl Oakleaf: Deeply lobed burgundy leaves have a distinctive oak shape in this heat-resistant looseleaf variety. 51 days to maturity.

• Ruby: An early heirloom variety of leaf lettuce that produces frilly leaves with a light green center that stay brilliantly red on the outside, even in hot weather. Resists heat and is slow to bolt. 1958 All-American Selection winner; 53 days to maturity.

• Salvius: This cultivar of Romaine grows into tall plants with crisp, dark green, medium Savoyed leaves. In addition to heat tolerance, it’s not prone to bolting, has intermediate resistance to corky root, and shows high resistance to downy mildew and the Nasonovia ribisnigri aphid. 58 days to maturity.

• Sierra Batavian: This Batavian crisphead lettuce starts as an open-headed type and develops into a compact closed head of glossy leaves veined with red by the time it’s ready to harvest. Resists bottom rot and tipburn as well as withstanding hot weather well. 54 days to maturity.

• Skyphos: Large heat-tolerant butterhead that produces dark red leaves that turn green at the center. 47 days to maturity.

• Sparx: A high-yielding Romaine with a long heart and densely packed, tender leaves with good flavor. Resistant to heat and downy mildew. 58 days to maturity.

• Speckles: A space-saving Amish heirloom variety of butterhead lettuce featuring red speckles on the bright green leaves that rarely become bitter. 44 days to maturity.

• Starfighter: This pretty leaf lettuce with ruffled edges has lots of benefits over and above its heat resistance. Heads are compact but not small—heavy and densely packed with shiny leaves. Starfighter is a high producer that defies tipburn and bolting while also resisting downy mildew, lettuce root aphids, and the Nasonovia ribisnigri aphid. 52 days to maturity.

• Summer Bibb: Related to Kentucky Bibb, Summer Bibb lettuce is especially suited for gardeners who use a greenhouse or hotbed. Slower to bolt than other varieties of Bibb lettuce. 60 days to maturity.

• Summer Crisp: A Batavian crisphead variety also called French Crisp that will not turn bitter and has leaves similar to Romaine in texture. 50 days to maturity.

• Tropicana: Several seed catalogs call Tropicana the most heat resistant and bolt resistant leaf lettuce in the country. It’s a Batavia that grows into a full head that forms a wide, flat rosette. Tropicana is also resistant to tipburn and leaf scorch, with intermediate resistance to corky root. 52 days to maturity.