Variety field guide
What to expect from All Year Round Butterhead Lettuce
All Year Round Butterhead is an annual lettuce selection grown for salad greens, baby leaf or heads, succession planting, containers, and seed saving.
Read the complete product descriptionTraits, flavor, garden use, variety notes, and the full catalog record
Lettuce Seeds - All Year Round Butterhead produce a classic heirloom butterhead lettuce with soft green leaves, compact creamy hearts, and the tender, buttery texture gardeners expect from a true garden-grown butterhead. All Year Round Butterhead Lettuce is valued for its dependable performance across a wide sowing window, with heritage sources describing it as a pre-1870 variety that can be grown through much of the year with proper timing and protection. These Lettuce Seeds are an excellent choice for fresh salads, tender sandwich leaves, lettuce cups, and homegrown heads with flavor and texture far beyond standard store-bought lettuce.
About All Year Round Butterhead
All Year Round Butterhead is an annual selection of lettuce, with a rosette habit and an expected height or spread of 7–12 in. It is best suited to salad greens, baby leaf or heads, succession planting, containers, and seed saving. Notable traits include harvest baby leaf, loose heads, or mature heads at the listed stage; mild to richly textured leaves according to type.
The value of All Year Round Butterhead is in the combination of its named traits, rosette growth, and fit for salad greens, baby leaf or heads, succession planting, containers, and seed saving.
History and provenance
Leafy greens have been selected for rosette form, head type, color, texture, bitterness, season, and bolt resistance. Mixtures and market classes should not be given a single invented pedigree, and forcing chicory, endive, lettuce, and spinach remain botanically distinct crops. Lettuce has one of the oldest and most layered histories of any garden green, with its domestication traced to the Mediterranean Basin and the ancient Near East. The crop is believed to have developed from wild lettuce relatives that were first valued for their oil-rich seeds and later selected for larger, more tender, less bitter leaves. Over many generations, growers transformed a wild, often bitter, upright plant into the diverse lettuce types known today, including looseleaf, romaine, crisphead, stem lettuce, and butterhead forms. All Year Round Butterhead belongs to this long tradition of human selection for softness, mild flavor, and dependable fresh eating quality. In ancient Egypt, lettuce appears in agricultural and symbolic contexts, showing that the plant was already important thousands of years ago. From the eastern Mediterranean and Near East, lettuce spread through Greek and Roman foodways, where it became a familiar garden vegetable and table green. Butterhead and Bibb types form soft, tender heads that need even moisture and cool conditions for best texture.
Growing facts
| Scientific name | Lactuca sativa L. |
|---|---|
| Life cycle | Annual |
| Maturity | 60-69 Days |
| Germination | 3-7 Days at 45–60 °F |
| Seed depth | 1/8 in |
| Plant height / spread | 7–12 in |
| Growth habit | Rosette |
| Spacing | 8 in between plants; 18 in between rows |
| Sunlight | Full - Partial Sun |
| Soil | Loamy; pH 6.0–6.5 |
| Water | Moderate |
| Support | No-Support |
Starting All Year Round Butterhead from seed
Sow 1/8 in deep and keep the seed zone evenly moist. Expect emergence in 3-7 Days when the seed-zone temperature is near 45–60 °F. Germination preparation: Direct sow into a prepared, weed-free seedbed; avoid disturbing developing roots or dense stands. Light requirement: Light aids germination; barely cover. Soaking: None required. Stratification: None required. Scarification: None required.
Planting and care
Plant during spring/Fall and provide full - partial sun. Space plants 8 in apart with 18 in between rows. Use loamy with a pH near 6.0–6.5, and follow a moderate watering plan. Support requirement: No-Support. Frost response: Semi-Hardy. Good container fit with drainage, even moisture, and the listed spacing
Harvest and use
Approximately 60-69 Days, from direct sowing or transplanting to the listed baby-leaf or head stage. Weather, soil temperature, and planting method can shift the actual harvest date. Harvest: Harvest baby leaf, loose heads, or mature heads at the listed stage. Uses: Salad greens, baby leaf or heads, succession planting, containers, and seed saving. Flavor: mild to richly textured leaves according to type. Seed saving: Primarily self-pollinated annual. Best uses include salad greens, baby leaf or heads, succession planting, containers, and seed saving. Flavor and eating quality: mild to richly textured leaves according to type.
Saving seed
Select several healthy, true-to-type All Year Round Butterhead plants that match the expected rosette habit and overall plant form. Avoid saving seed only from the earliest or largest individual unless that is your deliberate selection goal. Pollination system: Primarily self-pollinated annual. Crossing is less frequent than in brassicas but can occur at close range. Separate compatible varieties that may flower together, or use cages, barriers, hand pollination, or another documented control appropriate to the crop. Allow selected plants to pass the eating stage and reach full botanical seed maturity. Harvest only when seed heads, pods, or fruits have matured enough for sound seed development. Clean the seed carefully, dry it thoroughly away from direct heat, label the lot with variety and year, and store it cool, dark, and dry. Test germination before an important planting or distribution season.
Common problems
Common concerns: Aphids, slugs, leaf miners, caterpillars, damping-off, bottom rot, and premature bolting under stress. Management: Use clean beds, even moisture, spacing for airflow, crop rotation, and harvest before heat or crowding lowers quality. Diagnosis note: Similar symptoms can have different causes. Compare plants of the same age, record weather and irrigation, and use local Extension or diagnostic support before applying a control.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions - All Year Round Butterhead
When is All Year Round Butterhead ready? Use 60-69 Days. Approximately 60-69 Days, from direct sowing or transplanting to the listed baby-leaf or head stage. Weather, soil temperature, and planting method can shift the actual harvest date.
How long does germination take? Expect 3-7 Days at about 45–60 °F. Cooler, hotter, crusted, saturated, or dry seedbeds can slow emergence.
How large does it grow? Expect about 7–12 in with a rosette habit. Space plants 8 in apart and rows 18 in apart. Support: No-Support.
Can it grow in a container? Good container fit with drainage, even moisture, and the listed spacing Use a container with drainage and enough volume to maintain the listed spacing and steady moisture.
Can I save seed? Primarily self-pollinated annual. Keep compatible varieties isolated and allow selected plants to reach full seed maturity.
