Intensely Flavored Wild Arugula — The Gourmet Chef's Choice
If regular arugula is bold, Wild Rocket turns the dial up to eleven. With its deeply lobed, slender leaves and an assertively peppery, complex flavor with hints of mustard and spice, Wild Arugula is the variety that serious cooks and restaurant chefs seek out — the one that makes a simple salad taste like it came from a Michelin-starred kitchen. Botanical Interests Wild Rocket seeds bring this gourmet green to your home garden in a non-GMO, open-pollinated form.
Wild Arugula (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) is a different species from common arugula — a perennial in mild climates with a more intense, complex flavor profile and greater heat tolerance, meaning it's slower to bolt and delivers a longer harvest season. Its smaller, more deeply cut leaves are a hallmark of authentic Italian rucola selvatica — the wild arugula found growing along roadsides and in fields across the Mediterranean.
Why You'll Love It
- Intensely peppery flavor — more complex and assertive than common arugula; a true gourmet green for salads, pastas, pizzas, and pestos
- Slower to bolt — greater heat tolerance than standard arugula means a longer harvest window through warmer weather
- Perennial in mild climates — comes back year after year in zones 7+ for a low-maintenance, self-renewing harvest
- Cut-and-come-again — harvest outer leaves regularly and the plant keeps producing for weeks
- Non-GMO & open-pollinated — save seeds year after year
- Edible yellow flowers — small yellow blooms add a mild peppery note and visual appeal to salads and garnishes
Growing Tips
Direct sow outdoors in early spring or fall in a sunny to partially shaded spot with well-drained soil. Sow shallowly (¼ inch deep) and thin to 6–8 inches apart. Wild Rocket is more heat-tolerant than common arugula but still prefers cool conditions for the best flavor — succession sow every 2–3 weeks for a continuous harvest. Harvest outer leaves when they reach 3–4 inches for the mildest flavor, or allow to grow larger for maximum intensity. In zones 7+, plants may overwinter and return in spring. Allow a few plants to flower and set seed for self-sowing or seed saving.
Packaged by Botanical Interests — a trusted name in heirloom and open-pollinated seeds since 1995.
# 0298