Leeks

Freshly harvested leeks.

* Common name: Leek

* Botanical name: Allium ampeloprasum porrum

* What it is: An edible onion relative with upright, strappy leaves and fat, white bases that are milder than onions.

* Size: 15 to 18 inches tall, space 4 to 6 inches apart

* Where to use: Interplanted throughout a vegetable garden in full sun. Also works well as veggie-garden edging plant.

* Care: Set out seed-started transplants or baby plants from the garden center late March to mid-April. Likes loose, rich, manure- or compost-enriched soil and regular watering. Harvest mid-July through August and eat elongated white bulbs. Great in soup and chicken and leek pie!

* Great partner: Spiky form looks nice with lacy foliage of carrots or rounded forms of lettuce and cole crops… plus leeks’ oniony scent repels bugs from its neighbors.