10 Heat-Tolerant Salad Greens to Grow All Summer Long

I’ve often wondered why lettuce and spinach aren’t summer crops. Whose idea was it to give us all those sweet, juicy tomatoes and fresh, crisp cucumbers in the summer, but no lettuce or spinach to go with them?

Sure, there are ways to extend the life of your spring greens by giving them more shade or less sun. But… come summer, they’re well on their way to bolting.

For those of us longing for leafy greens even when it registers 90°F outside, all is not lost. You can still grow a summer salad bed without any tricks!

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Edible red leaf amaranth

Also known as Chinese spinach, edible red leaf amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor) grows quickly—especially in hot, hot weather—and can be harvested just a month after sowing.

It’s a cut-and-come-again crop that can grow over 6 feet tall and produces all season long for me. It also packs a nutritional punch, beating out beet greens, spinach, and chard in calcium, niacin, and iron content.

As my favorite summer salad green, edible red leaf amaranth tastes like a very mild kale. The deep red color is also beautiful against all the other greens in a salad bowl.

Buy edible red leaf amaranth seeds at Botanical Interests

Perpetual spinach

The name alone gives a good clue that this vigorous leaf is long-lasting. But the name is also misleading, as perpetual spinach (Beta vulgaris var. cicla) is not a spinach at all—it’s actually a member of the beetroot family known as chard. (Chard produces the same leafy tops as beets, but does not form a swollen root.)

However, it tastes more like spinach than it does chard and even looks like spinach with its flatter, more pointed leaves and narrower stems.

In mild climates, perpetual spinach grows all summer long, over fall and winter, and even through the following spring. It’s a versatile green that should be a staple in everybody’s garden!

Buy perpetual spinach seeds at True Leaf Market

‘Vulcan’ chard

This type of chard (an improved variety from Switzerland) is also called rhubarb chard because of its red ribs and stems.

While not as long-lasting as perpetual spinach, ‘Vulcan’ chard (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris) can tolerate summer temperatures up to 85°F (even higher with afternoon shade or shade cloth) and keeps going until the first frost.

It’s a highly prolific vegetable and I can never seem to keep up with the amount of leaves my plants put out every week! Even when the leaves are fully mature, they’re still tender and delicately crisp.

Buy ‘Vulcan’ chard seeds at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Komatsuna

This Japanese leaf vegetable is related to the common turnip. Komatsuna (Brassica rapa subsp. nipposinica) is sometimes called tendergreen mustard, spinach mustard, or mustard spinach (again, not a spinach… who comes up with these names?).

I actually grow komatsuna year-round because it does equally well in the warmer days of summer as it does the cooler nights of winter. It’s one of the fastest growing greens in my garden, reaching maturity in just 40 days and producing for several months.

The leaves have a mild flavor when young and become a bit more bitter as they grow larger. Komatsuna is also great for making pickled mustard greens.

Buy komatsuna seeds at Botanical Interests

Malabar spinach

You’ve probably guessed by now that malabar spinach is, of course, not a spinach, though the leaves look so similar that the plant is sometimes called climbing spinach, vine spinach, Vietnamese spinach, Indian spinach, or Ceylon spinach.

Malabar spinach (Basella alba) is a tropical perennial vine with bold red stems that loves to climb… and climb… and climb… capable of reaching 10 feet long but generally staying smaller in home gardens. My malabar spinach actually doesn’t seem to take off until it’s hot and sunny—long after my real spinach is wilting in the garden!

The glossy, semi-succulent leaves are slightly rubbery to the touch and impart a somewhat slimy texture when cooked. While this can be a turn-off for some people, others take advantage of its mucilaginous nature (reminiscent of cooked okra) to help thicken soups and stews.

When used raw (and before the plant starts flowering), malabar spinach adds a nice bite to a salad and tastes somewhat like mild beet greens.

Buy malabar spinach seeds at True Leaf Market

Tokyo bekana

As a Japanese version of Chinese cabbage, Tokyo bekana (Brassica juncea) is a type of mustard that looks like lettuce. Confused yet?

It’s a cut-and-come-again crop that grows quickly and can be harvested in the baby leaf stage, or left to grow into large, frilly leaves.

The flavor becomes more brassica-like as the leaves mature, so if you prefer a milder mustard taste, use them as baby greens. Tokyo bekana grows best in mild summer climates and will last longer with some afternoon shade (or under shade cloth during the hottest part of the year).

Buy Tokyo bekana seeds at True Leaf Market

Yukina savoy

This mustard green, part of the Chinese cabbage family, looks a lot like tatsoi but with cupped and heavily savoyed (garden speak for crinkled) leaves.

Yukina savoy (Brassica rapa Pekinensis Group) is not the type of green you would think to put in a salad, but the young leaves (stems and all) are delicious raw. Because of the cucumber-like and mild mustard flavor, yukina savoy pairs well with citrus.

It seems to favor any type of growing condition from warm to cool, and is slow to bolt once summer peaks. (But once it does bolt? The flowers are 100 percent edible, just like kale buds.)

Buy Yukina savoy seeds at True Leaf Market

Mizuna

Despite being a Japanese mustard, mizuna (Brassica rapa subsp. nipposinica) is neither hot nor bitter. The saw-toothed leaves and tender stems have a slightly tangy flavor when young, and a mildly peppery flavor when mature.

You can harvest baby mizuna (about 20 days after sowing) with other young salad greens on this list to make your own mesclun!

Mizuna is technically a cool-season vegetable, though it grows steadily year-round for me from 90°F summer afternoons to 40°F winter evenings.

I like to grow mizuna between taller summer plants (such as edible red leaf amaranth or komatsuna) to give it a little shade and help extend its season.

Buy mizuna seeds at Botanical Interests

Red-veined sorrel

As a member of the sorrel family, red-veined sorrel (Rumex sanguineus) is also called bloody sorrel, bloody dock, bloody wood dock, bloodwort, or if you prefer a less macabre reference, red-veined dock.

Red-veined sorrel is actually a perennial herb that tastes like a tangy spinach. It produces a rosette of green leaves that look like they have little blood vessels running through them. Since the red stems do bleed a bit of color, I use the individual leaves more as an accent in my salads.

For being a warm-region plant (hardy from zones 5 and up), bloody dock prefers rather damp conditions, so it’s well suited for areas prone to summer storms.

Buy red-veined sorrel seeds at True Leaf Market

Butterhead lettuce

And if you don’t believe a salad is a salad without your beloved lettuce, you can try any number of heat-tolerant lettuces from my list, such as butterhead types (Lactuca sativa).

I’ve had success growing a few different heat-tolerant lettuces in summer by starting them in late spring (before the weather turns too hot), and keeping them mulched and moist through most of summer. They fare better with afternoon shade (or grown between taller plants) to help them last all season.

Buy butterhead lettuce seeds at Botanical Interests

Do you grow another summer-lovin’ salad green in your garden? Please share!