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When to plant
broccoli in the UK
Cut the main head first and you'll get side shoots for weeks. Purple sprouting is the real star — worth the long wait.
Work out your own dates
Starts from the recommended sow date for your area. Sowed on a different day, or planted out late? Adjust below and the harvest moves with it.
Using the UK-average last frost · 15 April · add your postcode to tune it
Growing journey
12 weeks from planting out to harvest · Start indoors 6 weeks before planting out
Get broccoli seeds
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What broccoli need
Sun. Firm, fertile soil. Net against pigeons and cabbage white butterflies.
Spacing
45cm between plants
These are larger plants — give them plenty of space for air circulation.
Varieties worth growing
Purple Sprouting Early
commonThe star of late winter when there's almost nothing else to pick. Purple spears that snap off satisfyingly and taste sweet enough to eat raw in the garden. Worth the long wait from summer sowing.
Purple sprouting with chilli and garlic
Steam the spears for three minutes, then toss in a hot pan with olive oil, sliced garlic, and dried chilli flakes. A squeeze of lemon and it's done. March has never tasted so good.
Green Magic
commonQuick-maturing calabrese that gives you a big central head followed by weeks of side shoots. The broccoli for impatient people who still want proper flavour. Sow in spring, eat by summer.
Tenderstem with sesame dressing
Blanch or steam until bright green and just tender. Dress with soy sauce, sesame oil, a squeeze of lime, and a scatter of toasted sesame seeds. Five minutes, and it's the best side dish on the table.
Ironman
uncommonHeavy-cropping calabrese with dense, blue-green heads that hold well on the plant instead of bolting the moment you turn your back. Reliable, productive, and named after exactly what it is.
Charred broccoli with anchovy butter
Halve the heads, char in a screaming hot pan until deeply browned on the cut side. Top with butter melted with a mashed anchovy, lemon zest, and chilli. The char is the point — don't be timid.
Burgundy
rareDeep purple sprouting broccoli that's even more beautiful than the standard purple. Later-maturing, so it fills the gap in March and April when the garden is waking up but not yet productive. The colour holds through cooking better than you'd expect.
Purple broccoli with hollandaise
Steam the purple spears until just tender, serve with a classic hollandaise — butter, egg yolks, lemon juice, whisked over heat until thick and glossy. The purple against the golden sauce is stunning. Spring luxury.
Nine Star Perennial
★ legendaryA perennial broccoli that comes back year after year, producing clusters of creamy-white cauliflower-like heads each spring. Plant it once, harvest for up to five years. The holy grail of low-effort brassica growing. Nearly disappeared from seed catalogues before heritage seed savers rescued it.
Nine star heads with brown butter
Steam the cream-coloured heads until just tender, serve with brown butter, toasted almonds, and a squeeze of lemon. The flavour is somewhere between broccoli and cauliflower — delicate, nutty, and unique. A taste you can't buy anywhere.
Good companions
Keep apart from
- Tomatoes
- Runner beans
When to sow broccoli
Based on UK average frost date. Enter your postcode for exact dates, or find your city.
Where to buy broccoli seeds
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What you'll need for broccoli
The stuff beginners wish they'd bought sooner.
Without this, cabbage white caterpillars will strip your plants to skeletons. Cover from planting day — not after you spot damage.
Hold netting above the leaves. Draped directly on plants, butterflies lay eggs through the mesh where it touches.
Flat discs around the stem at soil level to stop cabbage root fly laying eggs at the base. Cheap, reusable, and often forgotten.
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Get your exact dates
Enter your postcode for personalised planting dates for broccoli.