Recommended Variety List for Southcentral Alaska

HGA-00031 View this publication in PDF form to print or download.

Gardening for recreation and for food production is popular in Southcentral Alaska, just as it is in the rest of the world. Although our short, cool growing season and cold soils present gardening challenges, our long day lengths and low pest levels give us gardening opportunities not seen by our counterparts in the rest of the United States.

Red vegetables While many kinds of fruit and vegetables will grow wonderfully in our gardens, not all will. In general, cool season vegetables such as potatoes, carrots and the cabbage family thrive in our gardens, while warm season vegetables such as beans, cucumbers and tomatoes struggle to produce in open, unprotected gardens.

One of the joys of gardening is discovering new varieties that are successful in your garden. Although there are many varieties that are not presented in the following charts that are worthy of your garden effort, the varieties listed have repeatedly proven successful in Southcentral Alaska. The recommendations for the varieties in the charts come from several sources. Many have been trialed by researchers at University of Alaska Fairbanks Matanuska Experiment Farm in Palmer or at the Division of Agriculture’s Plant Material Center in Butte, Alaska. Others have made the list because they are highly recommended by Master Gardeners throughout the Southcentral region.

Bushes and vegetables

Since the weather, soil type, nutrient levels and production strategies vary from garden to garden, the yield and maturity information should be used as a relative measure of the variety’s production potential. It may perform differently in your garden than where it was originally evaluated. In general, the short season varieties perform better than the long season varieties. The warm season vegetables are much more productive under high or low plastic tunnels.

Extension publication HGA-00134, "16 Easy Steps to Gardening in Alaska," is a good publication to help get you started in producing some of your own fruits and vegetables.

Garden Vegetables


Vegetable	Variety	Maturity	Yield	Comments
Snap Beans	Contender	Earliest	Heavy	Pods may become splashed with purple
	Provider	Early	Heavy	Good quality
	Strike	Mid-season to late	Heavy	Good quality
	Top Crop	Mid-season	Moderate	Good quality and dependable
	Royal Burgundy	Mid-season	Moderate	Good quality and dependable
Beets	Bolthardy	Intermediate	Heavy	Solid dark red and round; does not go to seed; Gourmet Seeds only
	Ruby Queen	Early	Heavy	Uniformly smooth
	Cylindra	Intermediate	Fair	Long, cylindrical
	Burpee Golden	Intermediate	Fair	Yellow flesh instead of red; round
	Detroit Red	Intermediate	Heavy	Standard, good for processing
	Chioggia	Intermediate	Fair	Heirloom; flesh with concentric red and white rings
	Touchstone Gold	Intermediate	Heavy	Yellow flesh instead of red, mild flavor
Broccoli	Packman	Early to mid-season	Heavy	Medium central heads
	Green Comet	Early	Fair	Large central heads; wholesale only
	Waltham 29	Second earliest	Heavy	Medium central heads, many laterals
	Emperor	Mid-season to late	Heavy	Large central heads
Brussels	Jade Cross	Early	Heavy	Uniform sized sprouts, good quality
Sprouts	Prince Marvel	Early	Heavy	Uniform sized sprouts, excellent quality; Vermont Bean Seed Co. (retail); Ball Seed Co. (wholesale)
Cabbage	Early Jersey	Earliest	Good	High quality, pointy heads that burst early
	Early Marvel	Early	Good	Good quality, round heads; all heads mature over a short period; Stokes Seeds
	Emerald Ace	Early	Good	Nice shaped heads; Stokes Seeds
	Hybrid Golden Acre	Early	Good	Fair quality, round heads, long core
	Stonehead	Mid-season	Heavy	Firm, uniform heads, long core
	Survivor	Late	Heavy	Good storage keeper
	O-S Cross	Late	Very heavy	Has potential for very large size; Denali Seed Co. (wholesale only)
	Multikeeper	Late	Heavy	Good storage keeper; Stokes Seeds
Carrot	Nantes Coreless	Early	Fair	Medium, cylindrical, sweet, tender, stores well; Farmer Seed & Nursery Co.
	Gold King	Mid-season	Heavy	Long, cylindrical, tapered point
	Gold Pak	Mid-season to late	Heavy	Long, tapered, commercial type, high quality, needs deep soil
	Nantes Scarlet	Mid-season to late	Good	Consistently large
	Royal Chantenay	Late	Very good	Large diameter, large core, fair quality
Cauliflower	Super Snowball	Very early	Very good	Light heads, does not get ricey or purple; Farmer Seed & Nursery Co. (wholesale only)
	Early Snowball	Early	Very good	Medium heavy heads, fair leaf cover
	Snow Crown	Early	Good	Dependable early variety


Vegetable	Variety	Maturity	Yield	Comments
	Andes	Mid-season	Heavy	Self-wrapping type
Celery	Utah 52-70	Mid-season	Good	Long stalks, dark green
Chives	Nearly all varieties	Early	Good	Perennial, onionlike flavor do well
Cucumber	Slice King	Early	Good	Gynoecious, hybrid slicer
	Early Pride	Mid-season	Good	High quality (slicing)
Corn	Espresso	Late	Good	Start in greenhouse and transplant soon
Kale	Nearly all varieties	All	Good	Harvest as baby greens and/or full-sized plants do well
Kohlrabi	Early Purple Vienna	Early	Good	Substitute for turnip where turnip root maggot control is impossible
	Early White Vienna	Early	Good	Both Vienna's keep well into late winter in common storage
Greens	Fordhook Giant Chard	Late	Heavy	Vigorous, large leaf and petiole
	Green Wave Mustard	Very early	Good	Distinct mustard flavor; Stokes Seeds, Denali Seed Co.
	Seven Top Turnip	Early	Good	Use turnip and tops when the root is 1 inch in diameter; Reimer Seeds, Kitchen Garden Seeds, Nature Hills Nursery
	Collards (Vates)	Late	Heavy	Mild mustard flavor
	Bulls Blood Beets	Early	Good	Beautiful dark red leaves with mild flavor
Lettuce (head)	Ithaca	Mid-season	Heavy	Less susceptible to tipburn than other varieties
	Great Lakes 659	Late	Heavy	Tolerates more cold than other varieties
(butterhead)	Buttercrunch	Early	Good	Excellent quality, withstands some frost; long season of use
(looseleaf)	Salad Bowl	Early	Good	Does not go to seed as early as other varieties
	Grand Rapids	Early	Heavy	Best adapted to low light intensities
Onion (sets)	Ebenezer	Early	Good	Yellowish flesh, very mild, stores well; Park Seed Co.
	White Portugal	Earliest	Good	White flesh, mild; Heirloom Seeds
(bunching)	Evergreen Bunching	Early	Good	Bulb area enlarges more than others; Burpee
Parsley	Curlina	Mid-season	Good	Suitable for garden or indoor culture; Stokes Seeds
Parsnip	Hollow Crown	Late	Good	May be left in garden if winter is mild
Green Peas	Spring	Earliest	Good	10-day picking period, trellising not necessary; Stokes Seeds
	Sparkle	Early	Heavy	8-day picking period, trellising not necessary; E & R Seed
	Dwarf Gray Sugar	Early	Good	Flat edible pod pea, trellising not necessary
	Alaska	Early and continuous	Good	Small pod, small pea, light color
	Freezonian	Early and continuous	Heavy	Continuous but only a few at a time, must trellis
	Sugar Ann	Early	Good	Plump edible pod, trellising not necessary
	Progress No. 9	Mid-season	Heavy	Trellising is desirable; Burpee, Seedway, Inc.
	Green Arrow	Mid-season	Heavy	Continuous, trellising not necessary
	Sugar Snap	Late	Fair	Plump edible pod, trellising is desirable


Vegetable	Variety	Maturity	Yields	Comments
Potato	Alaska Red	Early	Heavy	Red skin; seed potatoes are uniform shape for market gardening; available from many Alaska nurseries and garden supply stores
	Allagash Russet	Mid-season to late	Heavy	Round tuber, medium to heavy russeting
	Kennebec	Early	Very heavy	Plant space 7–9 inches, tubers green quickly when exposed to light
	Alasclear	Early	Good	Very resistant to common scab
	Superior	Early	Good	Heavy yield when irrigated; to reduce disease problems, be sure to purchase certified seed
	Shepody	Mid-season to late	Heavy	Long white, high dry matter, large size
	Alaska Frostless	Mid-season to late	Good	Grows after others are killed by frost
	Denali	Mid-season to late	Good	Baking and chipping quality
	Alaska 114	Mid-season to late	Good	Tough white skin
	Idita Red	Mid-season	Very heavy	Tough red skin
	Green Mountain	Mid-season to late	Very heavy	Widely adapted, tender skin, boiler
	Bake King	Mid-season to late	Heavy	Uniform tuber shape, good baker
	Highlat Russet	Mid-season to late	Good	Good texture and flavor when baked
	Yukon Gold	Mid-season to late	Good	Good quality, yellow flesh
	Butte	Mid-season to late	Good	Long tuber shape
	Lemhi Russet	Mid-season to late	Good	Long tuber shape, baker
	Pumpkin Spirit	Late	Good	May mature if transplanted through polyethylene film
	Autumn Gold	Late	Good	Turns from yellow to deep orange
Radish	Cherry Belle	Early	Good	Small top, round root, crisp
	Burpee White	Early	Good	Tender, mild and crisp; Burpee
	Chinese White	Mid-season	Heavy	Long, large diameter, good for winter storage
	Champion	Second earliest	Heavy	Uniform root, good quality
Rhubarb	Many varieties perform well; available from various Alaska nurseries and national mail order sources
	MacDonald	Early	Heavy	Cooks red, high quality
	Victoria	Later	Heavy	Green stalks with red speckling
	Canada Red		Moderate	Smaller but tender red stalks
	Prince Albert	Early	Heavy	Can become impressively large with proper fertilization
Spinach	Melody	Very early	Good	Excellent quality, resists early bolting
Squash (summer)	Gold Rush	Early	Good	Slender, gold colored
	Elite	Early	Heavy	Dark green zucchini; Harris Seeds, Johnny's Seeds
	Black Jack	Second earliest	Good	Produces over a long period
	Greyzini	Second earliest	Good	Light green, slender; Stokes Seeds
	Aristocrat	Early	Good	Excellent quality; Thompson & Morgan
(winter)	Gold Nugget	Late	Fair	Small fruit; Johnny's Seeds, Reimer Seeds, Territorial Seeds, Ed Hume Seeds
	Sweet Mama	Late	Fair	Buttercup type, compact vines


Vegetable	Variety	Maturity	Yields	Comments
	Golden Hubbard	Late	Good	Long fruit
	Improved Hubbard	Late	Good	Thick flesh, dark green
	Spaghetti squash	Mid-season	Heavy	Novelty squash
	Sweet meat	Late	Good	Short blue, hubbard type
Sweet Corn	Growing season must be extended by growing with clear polyethylene
	Polar Vee	Early	Very good	Short cob, short plant
	Earlivee	Early	Good	Excellent quality

Vegetable Varieties Suitable for Greenhouse or High Tunnel Production


Vegetable	Variety	Maturity	Yields	Comments
Tomato	Subartic 25	Early	Fair	Good ripe fruits; Denali Seed Co.
(Outdoors)	Early Tanana	Early	Poor	Several fruits mature per plant; Denali Seed Co.
Turnip	Tokyo Cross	Very early	Fair	May bolt to seed
	Purple Top White Globe	Mid-season	Heavy	Mild flavor
Cucumbers	Lemon	Late	Fair	Small yellow-skin cukes, good flavor
	Straight 8	Intermediate	Fair	Excellent fresh eating and pickling
	Tasty Green Hybrid (formerly Burpless)	Intermediate	Good	Good flavor; one of the first good burpless cukes; Burpee
Sweet Corn	Growing season must be extended by growing with clear polyethylene
Tomato	Tropic	Early	Heavy	Desirable for hydroponics
	Vendor	Early	Heavy	Short vine; good for lower ceiling houses
	Early Girl	Very early	Heavy	Good resistance to gray mold
	Ultra Girl	Early	Heavy	Attractive fruit; Stokes Seeds

Small Fruits


Fruit	Variety	Maturity	Yields	Comments
Strawberries	Matared	Very early	Heavy	Deep red fruit, excellent quality, winter hardy if mulched; various Alaska nurseries
	Susitna	Mid-season	Heavy	Deep red fruit, excellent quality, winter hardy if mulched
	Pioneer	Earliest	Low	Low quality,prolific plant maker, frequently survives without mulch
	Skwentna	Mid-season	Good	Medium red,distinctive flavor, excellent frozen


Fruit	Variety	Maturity	Yields	Comments
Raspberry	Latham	Early	Good	Excellent quality and flavor; various Alaska nurseries
	Festival	Mid-season to late	Good	Large fruits
	Boyne	Early	Good	Excellent quality and flavor
	Reveille	Mid-season to late	Good	Excellent quality and flavor
	Indian Summer	Mid-season to late	Good	Excellent quality with mild flavor
	Kiska	Early to mid-season	Good	Very hardy, small fruit
	Titan	Mid-season	heavy	Large fruits, mild flavor, hardy to -15°F
	Golden Amber	Mid-season	Good	Yellow fruit
Gooseberry	Pixwell	Late	Fair	More winter hardy than Champion
Currant	Red Lake	Late	Heavy	Very large fruits and seeds; various Alaska nurseries
	Holland Long Bunch	Mid-season	Good	Large fruits, reliably hardy
	Stevens #9	Late	Heavy	Large fruits, medium-sized seeds
	Boskoop Giant	Mid-season to late	Heavy	Large fruits, excellent quality
	Swedish Black	Late	Heavy	Large fruits, excellent quality

Tree Fruits


Fruit	Variety	Maturity	Yields	Variety Comments	Sources
Apple	Chinese Golden Early	Very early	Fair	Sweet, pleasant flavor, ripens in late August	various Alaska nurseries
	Rescue	Early	Heavy	Crisp, juicy, small red fruit, sprightly, ripens early September
	Yellow Transparent	Mid-fall	Good	High quality, for eating and culinary uses
	Summer Red	Mid-fall	Good	Crisp, juicy red fruit, sprightly, ripens late September
Crab Apple	Quality	Late	Good	Small yellow fruit, astringent flavor, good preserving;	various Alaska nurseries
	Jacques	Late	Fair	Firm, yellowish red; remove calyx and bake whole

Notes on shipping plant material: Contrary to the statements of some national plant vendors, plant material can be sent to Alaska. As for all interstate shipping of living plants, the material must have passed a USDA phytosanitary inspection. The phytosanitary certificate should be available upon request. It is also important that the material won't freeze during shipment. These logistics can be worked out with your shipper.

SEED SOURCES

Ball Seed Company P.O. Box 335, West Chicago, IL 60185

W. Atlee Burpee & Co. 300 Park Ave., Warminster, PA 18974

Denali Seed Co. P.O. Box 111425, Anchorage, AK 99511-1425

D.V. Burrell Seed Growers Co. P.O. Box 150, Rocky Ford, CO 81067

E & R Seed 1356 E 200 S, Monroe, IN 46772l; 206-692-6827 Ed Hume Seeds P.O. Box 73160, Puyallup, WA 98373

Ferry-Morse Seed Co. 601 Stephen Beale Dr., Fulton, KY 42041

Gourmet Seeds International, LLC HC 12 Box 510, Tatum, NM 88267

Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co. P.O. Box 4178, Greendale, IN 47025-4178

Harris Seeds P.O. Box 24966, Rochester, NY 14624-0966

Hydro-Gardens Inc. P.O. Box 25845, Colorado Springs, CO 80936

Irish Eyes Garden City Seeds 5045 Robinson Canyon Rd., Ellensburg, WA 98926

Johnny's Selected Seeds 955 Benton Ave. Winslow, ME 04901

Kitchen Garden Seeds P.O. Box 638, Bantam, CT 06750

Nature Hills Nursery 9910 North 48th Street Ste. 200, Omaha, NE 68152-1548

Park Seed Co. 1 Parkton Ave. Greenwood, SC 29647

Reimer Seeds P.O. Box 236, Mount Holly, NC 28120

Seedway, Inc. 99 Industrial Road, Elizabethtown, PA 17022

Seeds of Change c/o Marketing Concepts, P.O. Box 152 Spicer, MN 56288

Stokes Seeds Inc. P.O. Box 548, Buffalo, NY 14240-0548; stokes@stokeseeds.com

Tomato Growers P.O. Box 60015, Fort Myers, FL 33906

Thompson & Morgan P.O. Box 4086, Lawrenceburg, IN 47025

Territorial Seed Co. P.O. Box 158, Cottage Grove, OR 97424-0061

T & T Seeds, Ltd. Box 17100, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3P6, Canada

Otis S. Twilley Seed Co., Inc. 121 Gary Rd., Hodges, SC 29653

Vesey's Seeds, Ltd. P.O. Box 9000, Calais, ME, 04619-602

Vermont Bean Seed Co. 334 West Stroud St., Randolph, WI 53956-1274

To simplify information, trade names of products have been used. No endorsement of named products by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service is intended, nor is criticism implied of similar products that are not mentioned.

Stephen Brown, Extension Faculty, Agriculture and Horticulture. Originally prepared by Wayne Vandre and Don Carling, former Extension Horticulture Specialists.

Reviewed October 2019