Vegetable · Amaranthaceae
When to plant good king henry
An old perennial spinach substitute, picked for a few weeks in spring and then left alone once the leaves toughen.
Sow direct
3 weeks before
Counted from your last spring frost.
First worthwhile crop
Year 2
After planting, not after sowing.
Hardy in USDA zones
3a to 8a
Winter cold sets the limit here, not the calendar.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Seed packets rarely give calendar dates, because a date that suits one latitude is wrong at another. They give offsets from the last spring frost instead, and those offsets are what make good king henry plantable anywhere.
- Sow direct 3 weeks before the last frost.
- Expect a first worthwhile crop in year 2 after planting.
- Hardy in USDA zones 3a–8a.
- Can also be sown in late summer for an autumn crop or to overwinter.
Frost tolerance
Extremely hardy and among the earliest greens available.
Classified as very-hardy, with damage expected below -25°C (-13°F)-13°F (-25°C).