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My Favorite Crop Varieties

By: Angela Judd | Updated: September 22, 2025

Deciding which varieties of seeds to plant isn’t easy. The options are almost limitless. I’m here to help. This post lists my favorite crop varieties: the vegetables, herbs, and flowers I grow that stand out and perform well season after season. 

As I look through the crops in this blog post, I feel I’m introducing you to some of my friends. I hope you like them as much as I do. Check this list each season; I’ll add to it as I include more crops on my must-grow list. 

A wooden basket filled with long, striped green cucumbers sits in a garden among leafy plants.

What We’ll Cover:

How to decide which varieties to grow

Crops are divided by category (vegetable, flower, and herb). The reasons I love to grow it are listed, along with a source (if available) for seeds.

Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions or some of your own must-grow crops that I should add to the list. 

Yellow squash blossom growing on a plant in a garden bed with green leaves and mulch.

Vegetable varieties I love growing in my garden

Freshly harvested vegetables including kale, tomatoes, peppers, celery, broccoli, and beans in colanders.

Borlotti Beans

Colander filled with red and cream speckled beans, surrounded by green leaves in a garden setting.
Borlotti Bean Seeds

Painted Serpent Armenian Cucumber

A wooden basket filled with long, striped Armenian cucumbers in a garden setting.
Painted Serpent Armenian Cucumber Seeds

Kentucky Wonder Pole Bean

Green beans hang from a vine climbing over a rusty metal archway, with leafy greenery and blue sky in the background.
Kentucky Wonder Pole Bean Seeds

Texas Early Grano Onion

A large onion growing in soil with green leaves, surrounded by mulch and garden debris.
  • Large-sized, flavorful
  • Favorite short-day onion variety
  • Read more about how to grow onions
Texas Early Grano Onion Seeds

Pinkeye Purple Hull Cowpeas

Freshly picked red and green beans in a metal colander next to bean plants in a garden.
Pinkeye Purple Hull Cowpea Seeds

Astia Container Zucchini

Large zucchini plant with broad green leaves growing in a raised bed garden with mulch and other plants nearby.
Astia Container Zucchini Seeds

Utah Celery

Green celery stalks with leafy tops growing in a garden bed, surrounded by mulch and a drip irrigation system.
Utah Celery Seeds

Costata Romanesco Summer Squash

A yellow squash blossom and small romanesco zucchini growing in a garden bed with a plant label.
Costata Romanesco Summer Squash Seeds

Japanese Cucumbers

Green cucumbers growing on a vine with yellow flowers, surrounded by green leaves in a garden.
Japanese Cucumber Seeds

Super Sugar Snap Peas

Fresh sugar snap peas in a rustic wooden box with green leaves in the background.
  • AAS Winner, easy to grow
  • Great flavor at any stage, edible pod
  • Read about how to grow peas
Super Sugar Snap Pea Seeds

Imperial Broccoli

A head of broccoli growing among green leaves in a garden, with water droplets on the foliage.
Imperial Broccoli Seeds

Di Ciccio Broccoli

Broccoli plant with green leaves growing in a garden, sunlight shining on the foliage.
  • Small initial head with abundant side shoots
  • Grows well through Arizona winters
  • Read about how to grow broccoli
Di Ciccio Broccoli Seeds

Mini Jack Pumpkin

  • Compact, abundant producer, easy to grow
  • Fun decorative (or edible) pumpkin
  • Learn how to grow pumpkins in this guide.
Small orange pumpkins growing on green vines in a garden, surrounded by lush green leaves.
Mini Jack Pumpkin Seeds

Sugar Snax Carrot

Freshly harvested carrots with green tops lying in a wire basket in a garden.
  • Easy to grow (especially if you use pelleted seeds)
  • Disease-resistant, good flavor, stores well
  • Read about how to grow carrots
Sugar Snax Carrot Seeds

Hale’s Best Cantaloupe

Two ripe cantaloupes hanging on a vine surrounded by green leaves in a garden.
Hale’s Best Cantaloupe Seeds

Hearts of Gold Cantaloupe

Three melons growing on a vine, with one ripe cantaloupe and two unripe green melons.
Hearts of Gold Cantaloupe Seeds

California Wonder Peppers

  • Reliable producer, prolific
  • Large peppers can be harvested green or left to ripen to red
  • Read about how to grow peppers
Two green bell peppers growing on a plant with large green leaves in a garden.
California Wonder Pepper Seeds

Yukon Gold Potatoes

Freshly harvested potatoes in a metal colander with some dirt still on them.
  • Early season variety, easy to grow
  • Heat-tolerant, drought-tolerant
  • Read about how to grow potatoes
Yukon Gold Seed Potatoes

Yellow Pear Tomatoes

Yellow pear-shaped tomatoes growing on a vine with green leaves, supported by a metal trellis.
Yellow Pear Tomato Seeds
Planting Calendar for the Low Desert of Arizona

Perpetual Vegetable, Fruit & Herb Calendar shows you when to plant vegetables in the low desert of Arizona and whether to plant seeds or transplants. See the planting calendar in my shop.

My favorite herb varieties

Three labeled spice jars—sage, basil, oregano—on a wooden table with fresh herbs and twine nearby.

Emerald Towers Basil

Close-up of vibrant green basil leaves growing in a garden, with text GROWING IN THE GARDEN at the bottom.
  • Excellent flavor and production
  • Compact (grows up, not out)
  • Read about how to grow basil
Emerald Towers Basil Seeds

Bouquet Dill

Fresh dill stems and fronds in a wooden basket outdoors in a garden setting.
Bouquet Dill Seeds

Slow Bolt Cilantro

A colander filled with freshly picked cilantro leaves, set outdoors in a garden.
Slow Bolt Cilantro Seeds

Get planting dates for your favorite crops with these visual planting guides for bulbs, vegetables, herbs, fruits, flowers & vines.

My favorite must-grow flowers

Pink and white ranunculus flowers blooming closely together, with text reading GROWING IN THE GARDEN.

Sundancer Sunflower

  • Branching sunflower with endless blooms
  • Large plants that bloom all summer
  • Read about how to grow sunflowers
Sunflowers blooming in a lush garden surrounded by green plants and wire fencing.
Sundancer Sunflower Seeds

Sweet Pea Perfume Delight

A basket of colorful sweet pea flowers sits on a wooden surface in a lush garden.
Sweet Pea Perfume Delight Seeds

Cherokee Sunset Rudbeckia

  • Beautiful blooms in sunset hues
  • Easy to grow
  • Long-lasting plants and flowers
  • Learn more about how to grow rudbeckia.
Orange and yellow coneflowers bloom in a garden, surrounded by green leaves and sunlight.
Cherokee Sunset Rudbeckia Seeds

Queeny Orange Lime Zinnia

Pink zinnia flowers and green foliage growing in a garden bed, with a watering can in the background.
  • Stunning blooms on long stems
  • 2018 All-America Selections winner
  • Read about how to grow zinnias
Queeny Orange Lime Zinnia Seeds

Tecolote Ranunculus

A vibrant garden bed filled with blooming pink, white, and purple flowers surrounded by green foliage.
Tecolote Ranunculus Corms

Rainbow Bouquet Dwarf Strawflower

Pink and white strawflowers blooming in a sunlit garden with green foliage in the background.
  • Cold, heat & drought-tolerant
  • Long-lasting blooms
  • The compact size is perfect in beds and containers
  • Read about how to grow strawflowers
Rainbow Bouquet Dwarf Strawflower Seeds
Perpetual Annual Flower Calendar

The Perpetual Annual Flower Planting Calendar, available in my shop, helps you learn when to plant flowers in the low desert of Arizona and whether to plant seeds or transplants.

Looking for more planting date information? The Fruit Planting Guide, Flower Planting Guide, Vegetable Planting Guide, and Herb Planting Guide are full of helpful details about when to plant here in the low desert of Arizona.

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