Best Parsley Varieties for Scotland

Two things decide which parsley to grow: whether you want flat leaves for flavour or curly ones for garnish, and whether the plants need to stand through a Scottish winter. The second point is where the varieties split most clearly.

What Scotland means for the choice

Parsley does well in a cool Scottish summer, and a late-summer sowing under a clocheA small, portable clear cover placed over an individual plant or short row to trap warmth and keep off wind, rain and pests. Full definition → or fleeceA lightweight, breathable fabric laid or draped over plants to trap a little warmth and keep off frost, wind and some flying pests. Full definition → gives fresh leaves in March and April. For that winter crop, hardiness matters. Moss Curled, Bravour, French and Italian are rated H6, hardy anywhere in the UK, to between -20°C and -15°C. Titan and Envy are H4The RHS's H1a–H7 scale for how much cold a plant can survive outdoors, H1a being tender indoor-only and H7 hardy anywhere in the UK. Full definition →, hardy to between -10°C and -5°C, two steps lower, and hardy through most of the UK except inland valleys, high ground and central or northerly areas. The parsley growing guide covers sowing, slow germinationA seed sprouting: breaking dormancy and putting out its first root and shoot, given the right warmth and moisture. Full definition → and overwinteringKeeping a plant alive and intact through the cold months, whether left outdoors, moved under cover, or stored dormant. Full definition →.

Titan, Moss Curled, Bravour and Envy hold the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGMThe RHS's Award of Garden Merit: a UK-wide trials award for reliable performance, not a Scotland-specific recommendation. Full definition →), a UK-wide award rather than a Scottish one. French and Italian don't.

Flat-leaf or curly

Flat-leaved varieties tend to have the stronger flavour, and they freeze better once chopped. Curly varieties are more decorative, with a slightly milder flavour, and hold their shape as a garnish. If you have room, a short row of each covers both.

The flat-leaf varieties

Titan is a robust Italian-type parsley with flat leaves and a strong flavour, on a compact, upright plant, and it's the only flat-leaf variety with the AGM. At H4 it's the less hardy choice for a winter crop, so grow it for spring-to-autumn picking, or in a pot you can move under cover. French and Italian are the flat-leaf choice for an overwintered sowing: both are H6, and French has a stronger flavour than some of the curled varieties. Apart from the name, there's little to choose between them.

The curly varieties

Moss Curled gives rosettes of tightly curled leaves on short stems: the classic curly parsley. Bravour is a compact plant about 30cm tall with an excellent classic flavour. Both are H6, so either suits an overwintered sowing. Envy has densely curled leaves with a good flavour and does well in containers, which suits its lower H4 rating, since a pot can be moved somewhere sheltered for winter.

Other varieties

Aphrodite is a dark green, tightly curled garnish type, and Gigante Napoletano a large-leaved, strongly aromatic flat-leaf.

Which one for your situation

• Flat-leaf flavour, spring to autumn: Titan.
• Flat-leaf through the winter: French or Italian.
• Curly parsley, including over winter: Moss Curled or Bravour.
• A pot: Envy.
• Freezing a batch: any flat-leaf variety.

Variety makes no difference to pests: all share the same list, including carrot fly, aphids and celery leaf mining fly. Seedlings need protecting from slugs, and once any parsley bolts, its leaves turn bitter.

Common questions

Sources