White Icicle

A white flowering form called "White Icicle" blooms even earlier than coloured varieties.

White Icicle is a venerable variety, dating back to the 16th century, and its carrot-shaped white roots are more resistant to pithiness than most.

Ribes sangunium White Icicle' is beautiful and Carole recommends this species as an easy plant to grow.

Commercial varieties now include Red Prince, Champion, French Breakfast and White Icicle.

The numerous radish varieties also have tempting names like Comet, Cherry Belle and White Icicle, and colors that vary from white to scarlet, red and yellow.

The handsome March-flowering currant Ribes sanguineum 'White Icicle," for instance, which in my garden is a 5ft thicket, has here acquired an open and graceful skeleton as a result of such pruning.

Tom Moggach, author of The Urban Kitchen Gardener, recommends 'Sparkler" or purple 'Amethyst" or 'White Icicle," planting in succession from early spring to late summer in rows or containers.

The variety Long White Icicle' is available as seed in Britain, and will grow very successfully in Southern England, producing roots resembling a parsnip by midsummer in good garden soil in an average year.