A leafy green, compact head of 'Winter Density' lettuce

12 Heat-Tolerant Lettuce Varieties

While lettuce is a mainstay in diets year-round, it is actually a cool-season crop and bolts, or goes to seed, in hot weather. However, some lettuce varieties have been bred by gardeners over time to tolerate warmer temperatures and resist bolting early in the season. Plant these heat-tolerant lettuce varieties to extend your salad harvests.

A large, lush garden full of various crops at Seed Savers Exchange's Heritage Farm

Varieties

Recommendations from the 2025 ADAPT Trials

ADAPT gardeners certainly know plenty about what makes a variety great, and we’ve compiled data from some of their top picks from SSE’s catalog. Participants trialed these varieties as part of the 2025 ADAPT program.

Four seed packets of various flowers arranged on a pink silk cloth with a pink disco ball and other trinkets

Varieties

Valentine’s Day Gift Guide

Bouquets are great. But flower seeds are even better! Seed Savers Exchange has exactly what you need for gifting flowers. We created this Valentine’s Day Gift Guide to give you inspiration.

A 'Hutterite Breadseed' poppy flower with four large petals that are light purple on the outside and deep purple near the base, with a green seed pod exposed in the middle

Varieties

New Seed Varieties for 2026

The 2026 Seed Savers Exchange catalog includes 13 new seed varieties—including six stunning varieties from our seed bank collection—and they promise to be popular picks of gardeners everywhere!

Varieties

Easy Heirloom Herbs for Beginners

Whether you have raised beds, window-sill boxes, or are limited to container gardening, here are six herbs that are especially easy for beginners to grow and enjoy.

A collage of various images of heirloom plants, including 'Moon & Stars' watermelon, 'German Pink' tomato, 'Three Pound Coffee Can' asparagus, 'Grandpa Ott's' morning glory, dill, and 'Good Mother Stallard' bean

Varieties

50th Anniversary Heirloom Seed Collection

Great seeds, great seed stories. Seed Savers Exchange has stewarded both since its founding in 1975. To mark our 50th year, we’ve released a limited-edition heirloom seed collection featuring six of our most-cherished varieties.

Varieties

New Seed Varieties 2025: Something for Everyone

Seed Savers Exchange marks 50 years in 2025, and there’s a lot to celebrate—including 16 new seed varieties in our special-edition catalog (seven exclusively from the SSE collection).

Varieties

Grandma Einck and Her Blue Ribbon-Winning Dill

From its large, fragrant heads to abundant, long-lasting foliage, ‘Grandma Einck’s’ dill boasts much to admire—including its fabulous story.

Bright red double-petal poppies in a garden.

Varieties

‘Chima Family Heirloom’: one pretty (remarkable) poppy

It’s little wonder the charming ‘Chima Family Heirloom’ poppy has garnered rave reviews from the gardeners who have grown it since it was introduced by Seed Savers Exchange in 2017.

Several small 'North Carolina Heirloom' cucumbers growing on the vine with some yellow cucumber flowers.

Varieties

‘North Carolina Heirloom’ Cucumber: A Garden Delight

Marian Hart was a frequent lister in the Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook in the 1980s and 1990s. A gardener since 1962, Marian listed an assortment of crop varieties. But none of those varieties was as popular and beloved as her cucumber variety: the ‘North Carolina Heirloom’ cucumber.