If you like Romaine, try Red Rosie. {{gwi:62841}}

Farmerdill! You beat me to it! :) I was going to run out and snap a photo of my Red Rosie which is just heading up. It's a beautiful lettuce and makes gorgeous salads (though I think you can say that about almost every homegrown lettuce). I've come to really like homegrown romaine, it turns out I prefer to harvest a whole head instead of a few leaves per plant.

I like Rouge d'Hiver which I plant at the end of the summer for fall salads and then the plants overwinter well, giving me early spring lettuce. Pretty too.

Carol

The Skyphos does excellently for me.

Very pretty âÂÂRed Rosieâ Romaine, famerdill, thanks for posting the photo too! We do like Romaine and red is even better. Thanks for the reinforcement, too sunnibel.

Carol, that sounds like a great way to do it and nice that they will overwinter for you. I doubt IâÂÂd get that here in zone 6, but maybe with a cold frame. Nice idea, IâÂÂll look for those seeds.

Wayne, we just built new beds and refilled them, so I donâÂÂt think my soil is quite where it needs to be yet, so maybe thatâÂÂs the problem. I will try them again in the fall.

Thanks!

You may want to peruse Lisa Bloodnick's lettuce descriptions. I find it very useful. I have decided to try Vulcan based on her description.

Zeuspaul

Here is a link that might be useful: Scoop on lettuce varieties

This time of year, red oak leaf is a standout because it's the last to bolt when the weather turns hot.

The Lollos are picky picky. Not your fault.

The Johnny's "all lettuce mix" appears to have three reds -- a very dark leaf lettuce, red oak leaf, and a red romaine. There is a frisee type green lettuce (or endive) in the mix that is quite nice, too, along with several green lettuces. I've enjoyed growing this mix more than some others I've tried, mostly for the strong reds.

Zeuspaul, thanks for that link, I've saved it to my 2014 Garden folder. Nice to have something like that to keep referring to.

Planatus, thanks, both of those suggestions sound good, the red oak leaf, because I do like something that is slow to bolt and the Mix from Johnny's because I've tried mixes before that I didn't like and it will be good to try one that someone else has been happy with.

My favorite is Galactic Merlot.

Here are a couple of sources

http://www.highmowingseeds.com/organic-non-gmo-seeds-galactic-lettuce.html

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/seeds/search.php?search=merlot&item=2789&index=1

Here is the description fecoseeds has:

2789MO Merlot Lettuce OG (32 days baby, 60 mature) Open-pollinated. William Woys Weaver correctly predicted that this lettuce would become a classic. Always a standout in our trials, its intense burgundy color the richest we have ever seen. The Dutch company who bred it named it Galactic, but CookâÂÂs Garden trumped them by calling it Merlot. This merlot adds as much to your baby salad mix as a good wine adds to your dinner, providing incredible color, excitement and full-bodied flavor. Slow to grow, slow to bolt, plants never achieve much size or density, but are ideal for the baby leaf trade. Not for mature-head production, so may be spaced more closely than other varieties. According to Mountain Dell Farms (growing at 1400' in the Catskills), can stand outside temperatures to 14ð when double-covered under Agribon 19. Showed good resistance to bottom rot this past challenging season. Germinates poorly in warm temperatures. Resistant to X, DM, SC and TB. OT, CCOF-certified.

Thanks Rgress, that looks like a good one too. I bought all my seed from FEDCO this year, too. High Mowing is usually on a rack in at least one local nursery. I think I almost bought that one.

Since we're on the subject, too warm for lettuce now, but do you grow a fall crop, do you start seeds indoors or direct sow and when do you plant outside for a fall crop?

Merlot is a decent leaf lettuce. I am not a big fan of loose leaf lettuce but it is one of the better ones. {{gwi:62842}}

Farmerdill, what a bright red lettuce and it's looking very healthy too. I would rather have a dense, crunchy lettuce too, but, I read a book called 'Eating on the Wild Side' last year that reviewed all the research being done on the nutritional content of vegetables and fruits and the author suggests that nutritionally speaking, a red loose leaf lettuce is about as good as you can get as far as lettuce goes. So I've been eating more of that mixed in with the other lettuces I prefer.

One of the lettuces I am trying is Sierra. It is only about four inches in diameter now so it will be a few weeks before it ends up in a salad.

Here is some of what Specialty Produce has to say about Sierra health benefits.

Red Batavia lettuces include Pasquier, Polonaise, Rouge Grenobloise, Rustica and Sierra. Sierra lettuce benefits from both its Batavian heritage and its anthocyanin content. The level of anthocyanins in any food plant increase its red coloring, its nutritional value and its perceived value as studies prove that persons respond more favorably to red colored fruits and vegetables.

...................Because of Sierra lettuce's substantial levels of anthocyanins, it contains health boosting antioxidants. Anthocyanins have some of the strongest physiological effects of any plant compounds. Anthocyanins' health benefits include anti-flammatory and anti cancer properties as well as diabetes preventative qualities.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sierra Lettuce description at Specialty Produce