Landis Winter Lettuce is a dark green butterhead variety with roots stretching back to 18th-century Pennsylvania Dutch farming country. This heirloom selection descends from the now-extinct White Tennisball lettuce and was preserved through the dedicated work of lettuce collector Mary Schultz, who shared seeds with Roughwood Seed Collection in 1994. Reaching 11 to 12 inches at maturity, it's one of the most cold-hardy lettuces ever tested, surviving even the brutal Polar Vortex of 2013-2014. You can harvest tender, full heads in 50 to 60 days, making it perfectly suited to fall and winter gardens across zones 4-9.
14
Full Sun
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4-9
12in H x ?in W
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High
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This isn't just another winter lettuce. Landis Winter Lettuce proved itself through one of the harshest winters on record, surviving conditions that killed less hardy varieties outright. The Pennsylvania Dutch heritage runs deep here, representing generations of cold-climate adaptation and careful seed selection. Growing to a substantial 11 to 12 inches with rich dark green coloring, it delivers both substance and beauty to a winter garden when most greens have given up.
Landis Winter Lettuce is grown for fresh salads and as a tender cooking green. The substantial heads provide enough leaf material for both individual servings and family-sized salads. The butterhead structure means the inner leaves remain tender and mild even as outer leaves develop more character, making it suitable for harvesting outer leaves repeatedly or cutting the entire head for mixed greens preparations.
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Transplant seedlings outdoors when they have developed 2-3 true leaves and soil temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Space plants 14 inches apart in full sun. Landis Winter Lettuce can tolerate colder conditions than most lettuce, so it can be set out earlier in spring and later in fall than tender varieties.
Direct sow seeds outdoors in spring as soon as soil is workable, or in mid to late summer for fall and winter harvest. Sow seeds thinly and cover lightly with soil.
Harvest when heads reach 11 to 12 inches in diameter and feel firm when gently squeezed, typically 50 to 60 days after planting. You can either cut the entire head at soil level with a sharp knife, or harvest outer leaves progressively, allowing the center to continue growing. Morning harvest yields the crispest leaves. The butterhead type means you'll find tender, blanched inner leaves surrounding the firmer outer ones.
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“The story of Landis Winter Lettuce is one of dedicated preservation. It traces back to the White Tennisball variety, a popular European lettuce that vanished from common cultivation sometime in the 1800s. Pennsylvania Dutch farmers, known for their meticulous seed-saving traditions, maintained their own selection of this variety, keeping it alive in family gardens for generations. In 1994, lettuce expert Mary Schultz of Monroe, Washington, shared seeds of this Pennsylvania Dutch strain with Roughwood Seed Collection, ensuring it would survive for future gardeners. The variety proved its mettle during the 2013-2014 Polar Vortex winter, when it thrived while more delicate lettuces failed, validating the hardy character that those early farmers cultivated.”