Welcome to Wingard’s Vegetables & Herbs
Lexington County is known for it’s agriculture. Driving thru Lexington, you’ll find large peach orchards, corn fields and many different types of row crops. Lexington County is also home to Walter P. Rawl and Sons, Inc., one of the largest farmers in the country. Wingard’s is proud to carry a large variety of both warm weather and cold weather vegetable plants, and pleased to offer plants from Bonnie Plants, one of the largest plant producers in The Southeast. Also, enjoy enjoy growing your own herb garden, whether in a large space or a few containers on the patio. Growing your own herbs and harvesting them for your meal is quite the accomplishment, and easy to do!
The vegetable and herb varieties are numerous and deep, so, if you don’t see the one you seek down below, please give us a call, as there are too many to list them all!
Heirloom * Matures in 48 days
Blue Lake Bush Bean is an early maturing, long and straight, stringless snap bean that was originally developed as a canning bean for its productivity and exceptional flavor. Blue Lake Bush saves time as the sturdy plants do not requiring staking. Succession plant to have beans all season long and even some to freeze for later. Blue Lake Bush Bean is resistant to mosaic virus.
Matures in 55 – 65 days
Medium-sized, dark green heads that are better adapted to warm weather than other broccoli varieties. Delicious Lieutenant Broccoli even produces smaller side shoots to extend your harvest!
Matures in 75 days
Large, rounded, blueish-green heads are perfect for growing to cook for our southern spring and summer soups, stews, and slaws.
Heirloom * Matures in 85 days
Introduce in the 1920’s, Hale’s Best Jumbo Cantaloupe, is ribbed with a with a heavily netted skin. All melons love water, in fact Cantaloupes are made up of 90 percent water, so, water away! This cantaloupe can be trellised if you are short on ground space.
Matures in 30 – 40 days
Baby carrots are more forgiving of soil texture than their longer cousins as they don’t have to reach down as far. Easy and fun to grow, while being nutritious to eat, Crispy Crunch Baby Carrots are the perfect first veggie for introducing children to vegetable gardening.
Matures in 45 days
Pick leave from our Georgia collards, while they are still young, and you’ll be rewarded with a delightful, sweet, cabbage-like taste sensation. The leaves of Georgia Collards are lovely, ruffled and blue-green. Collards love the cold weather, so this variety is perfect for the fall veggie garden.
Matures in 70 days
If it’s named ‘Peaches and Cream’ you know it’s going to be sweet! Bicolored, yellow and white, this early maturing, super-sweet corn may be succession planted every two weeks to keep you in corn all season long.
Heirloom * Matures in 55 days
The perfect pickler, Boston Pickling yields heaps of straight, thin-skinned cucumbers on a continuously producing vine. The crisp flesh and size make this cucumber perfect for pickling. Boston Pickling Cucumber are resistant to scab and cucumber mosaic.
Matures in 50 – 60 Days
A bush cucumber is an excellent choice for saving space in the vegetable garden. Burpless Bush Hybrid Cucumber only grow 2 feet tall which makes them perfect for trellising. You can use this cucumber for slicing or pickle making. Try growing them in containers!
Matures in 50 days
A traditional vining cucumber, Burpless Hybrid is an early and heavily producing variety, yielding 10-inch-long slicing cucumbers. This mild cucumber is burpless and may be used for pickling when harvested at a smaller stage.
Matures in 80 days
Why buy when you can grow your own perfect eggplant? Black Beauty is a gorgeous vegetable; firm, rounded, deep purple, shiny, and it taste delicious. Tip: Harvest Black Beauty when the skin colors up to a deep purple and is shiny. You want to pick these before the shine and dark skin fades. These plants will require support to hold their heavy fruit.
52 days to maturity
A cool season veggie, award winning Sugar Ann Snap Sweet Peas are unique. You may harvest and eat them at any stage. If you pick the peas while they are young and flat, you may eat them like snow peas. If you wait until the pea fills out, you may shell the peas. In fact, they are so sweet, you may wait until they are fully mature and eat both the pea and the pod like a snap pea! Pea staking is recommended but not necessary because of Sugar Ann’s compact size, making her perfect for growing in a container.
Maturity 21 days to leaves and 55 days for head
Buttercrunch is a heat-tolerant, bolt-resistant bibb style lettuce that is as beautiful as it is delicious. Deep green leaves are frequently highlighted with red tips as it forms a perfect rosette in the garden. A little afternoon shade will go a long way with this plant, keeping it crisp during hot summer days.
Heirloom * Matures in 50 to 65 days
Oh, Okra! What would we do without you? Clemson Spinless Green Okra is an all- time favorite for adding to many southern dishes. Be sure to harvest the pod when young and tender. You’ll be glad you did!
Matures in 75 days
Hot Banana Peppers have just the right amount of heat to satisfy all tastes. Considered a medium hot pepper, this little firecracker may be roasted, fried, or even pickled. Many vegetables can be ornamental in the garden and Hot Banana is one of those veggies. The fruit goes from chartreuse, to yellow, to orange, and finally red. Pepper plants in general and usually small in stature making them an excellent choice for container growing. Remember to stake these and all of your pepper plants.
Matures in 75 days
Mild and never hot, Sweet Banana Peppers grow long and slender in a banana yellow color that eventually matures to orange then red. This heavy producer boasts up to 30 peppers per plant, per season; so, be sure to add support! Sweet Banana Peppers both pickle and fry well and are a great choice for any recipe calling for peppers.
Matures in 75 days
This is the classic bell pepper; block shaped and medium sized. It offers a thick, crisp flesh that is perfect for freezing, stuffing, and adding to any dish that calls for peppers. Bunker Green Bell Pepper is a heavy producer, providing lots of peppers for your summer recipes and for storing for winter months. Don’t forget to stake!
Matures in 75 – 85 days
If you love hot peppers, Cowhorn Hot Pepper is sure to please! These large, horn-shaped peppers produce a bright red fruit and are perfect for drying.
Matures in 60 – 65 days for green and 75 – 80 for red
Habanero Primero Red Hot Pepper is larger and earlier ripening variety of habanero. It is a hot pepper but not quite as hot as other habaneros. Still, be sure to protect yourself when cutting, wear gloves. This is a heavy producer so be sure to cage or stake.
Matures in 72 days
A classic and all-time favorite, Jalapeno Hot Peppers are perfect in any Mexican dish where you desire a little heat. Use this pepper for pickling, sauces, and salsa. Jalapeno start as deep green, small, horn-shaped peppers that turn red as they age. Color has no bearing on the flavor. You’ll enjoy plenty of fruit produced on a compact plant; perfect for growing in a container as well as in the ground.
Matures in 100 days
With a thin, wrinkly skin, this slow growing, tall pepper plant has fruit that begins green and ripens to bright red. Red Ghost is and extremely hot pepper, handle with caution.
Matures in 80 days
Small, long green fruit maturing to bright red, Serrano Peppers grow well even in hot and humid parts of the country and are perfect for using in salsa and Pico de Gallo.
Matures in 75 days
One of the best bell peppers you can find, Bonnie’s best hybrid sweet bell pepper is a heavy yielder, up to 30 peppers per plant per season. The fruit is classic green pepper; big, blocky, and green. Perfect for stuffing!
Heirloom * Matures in 53 days
Squash just doesn’t get any better than this! Very easy to grow and quick to mature, Crookneck Squash is highly productive and bears 6-inch long, lemon-yellow skinned fruit with a bit of a curve to the neck. Pick fruit when small and pick often to keep your squash fruiting all season long.
Heirloom * Matures in 46 – 52 days
A tender fruit with a creamy-yellow skin, Straight Neck Squash is an early producer. Very tasty, this is one of the best squashes for grilling, amongst other uses.
Heirloom * Matures in 48 days
Black Beauty is a beautiful Zucchini with deep green skin and creamy-white flesh. It is a heavy producer so pick your fruit small and often for the best taste and to keep your vine fruiting all summer long. Black Beauty may be harvested when very small for gourmet mini zucchini. Oh, and don’t forget the blossoms!
Heirloom * Matures in 82 days
With a classic butternut shape and tan skin, Waltham Butternut Squash has a scrumptiously sweet orange flesh with no strings. This sturdy winter squash stores very well and is perfect for using in any butternut squash dishes, especially soup.
Matures in 90 days
Beauregard is the most popular sweet potato for a number of reasons, high yielding plants, uniform fruit, and exceptional taste. Give plants plenty of sun to ensure maximum flavor and sweetness.
Indeterminate * Heirloom * Matures in 75 Days
Medium sized, pink, flavorful fruit that is resistant to cracking.
Indeterminate * Matures in 70 – 75 days
Large fruit produced on a high yielding plant; Better Boy is one of the most popular tomatoes in the US. Better Boy has a classic tomato flavor. Slice it for the perfect tomato sandwich!
Indeterminate * Heirloom * Matures in 80 – 90 days.
Cherokee Purple has an unimaginable delicious flavor, similar to a fine red wine. The fruit is dark and rich giving it a unique look as well as taste. Cherokee Purple is a must have for all tomato lovers.
Indeterminate * Matures in 65 days
With exceptional disease resistance, Park’s Whopper is a big, juicy, flavorful and meaty tomato, perfect for sandwiches. Try a couple of plants this year. You’ll be so glad that you did!
Indeterminate * Heirloom * Matures in 80 to 100 days
This well-loved, widely grown Amish tomato plant bears pinkish fruit with a delicious classic tomato taste. You’re going to love this one!
Determinate * Matures in 73 – 80 days
The perfect canning and sauce tomato, Roma produces an abundance of bright red, oval shaped, meaty fruit with few seeds. If you make your own sauce, this is the tomato for you!
Indeterminate * Matures in 65 days
“Super Sweet” says it all! This reliable and prolific cherry tomato has a high sugar content and possesses great disease resistance making it the most planted cherry tomato by far. The size and sweetness make Super Sweet 100 the perfect choice for salads and snacking, eating them right off the vine!
A warm weather herb, this classic Italian basil has wonderfully aromatic, large, dark green leaves that make the perfect pesto! Give Genovese Basil at least a foot of space in the garden and pinch regularly. Try mixing basil into flower beds and containers, too.
With a robust flavor and classic basil fragrance, Sweet Basil is a summer essential. Used in pesto and many Italian dishes, Sweet Basil pairs well with homegrown tomatoes. Try growing basil in flower beds and containers as well as in the herb and vegetable garden.
Super easy to grow, chives are a beautiful, grassy-looking herb that will provide a mild onion-like flavor to just about anything you serve. Perfect for making a simple herb butter, or adding to summer steaks and potatoes, chives are a perennial herb and will survive the winter. They produce lovely purple flowers in the spring that are also edible!
Cilantro gives food that classic Mexican flavor. Add Cilantro to salsa, salads, herb butter and marinades for meat. Cilantro tends to bolt in the hot weather, so it is best planted during the cooler growing season. Harvest often for the best taste.
There’s nothing quite like the fresh taste of Dill to brighten up potato salad, summer fish dishes, party dips, and summer salads. Allow the plant to flower; both the flowers and the leaves may be used in summer floral arrangements. Allow Dill to go to seed and you may use the seed for making dill pickles with your homegrown cucumbers.
Fennel leaves look a lot like Dill, but Bronze Fennel has a lovely bronzy cast to the young leaves. Fennel, however, tastes completely different from Dill; it has a wonderful anise-like flavor that is perfect for salads and slaws. The beautiful leaves allow for its use in the flower garden and in containers as well as the herb garden.
Lavender may just be the most versatile herb. It sports fragrant purple flowers with gray foliage making it perfect in the perennial bed or border. The scent of lavender is said to help calm and induce sleep. Place the flowers in your office or on your bedstand. The fragrant oils in both flowers and leaves may be used in all sorts of craft projects and in fresh bouquets. The flowers are edible and are often used along with lemon in sweet baked goods, jellies, and hot and cold teas.
Sweet Mint is very easy to grow, maybe a bit too easy. We suggest that you grow this useful herb in a pot as it loves to spread……everywhere. Drop a sprig into a pitcher or glass of sweet tea in the summer. In the winter, use it dried to make a soothing hot tea. Muddle it for an amazing mojito! Perfect for adding a little minty freshness to desserts and for jelly making. Sweet Mint makes an attractive garnish for many food dishes.
What would Italian food be without Oregano? From hoagie/hero sandwich seasoning to pizza and pasta sauce flavoring, Oregano is the classic Italian herb, creating the delicious taste that we are all familiar with and love. Low growing and handsomely colored, Oregano may be used as a ground cover or edging plant in well drained soil. Try it in the veggie garden, herb garden, and planted in stone walls and along garden paths.
Who doesn’t love parsley? The ruffled, dark green leaves of Curley Parsley are not only beautiful but tasty as well. Curley Parsley is a favorite garnish of chefs and the perfect seasoning for many sauces and salads. Feel free to plant Curley Parsley in the cool weather; it is not intimidated by a frost. This herb is so lovely it should certainly adorn your containers as well as your herb garden.
Italian Flat Parsley looks quite different from Curley Parsley. It has the same taste as Curley Parsley, just more robust. The leaves of Italian Flat Parsley hold up betted in the warm weather garden than its ruffled relative and also works better in cooked foods.
Rosemary is a traditional Mediterranean herb and one of the easiest herbs to grow. Rosemary is an evergreen, woody herb that is drought tolerant and grown outside for its culinary uses, and inside, often as a decorative topiary. Used frequently in many Mediterranean dishes, to flavor dipping oil, and in savory baked breads, Rosemary is a beautiful and useful addition to any garden or windowsill.
Sage is a strongly flavored, aromatic herb that is often associated with stuffing. It is used in poultry herb mixes to flavor turkey and chicken dishes. It is a must for sausage making and pork seasoning. Provide this plant with good drainage in the herb or container garden and it will keep on giving back.
With a slight anise-like flavor, Tarragon will compliment fish and chicken dishes and salads as well as soups. Mexican Tarragon taste similar but will hold up in our heat better than French Tarragon. The two are interchangeable. Grow in flower, veggie, and herb gardens as well as containers.
English Thyme is used either fresh or dried to flavor meat dishes, soups, and sauces. As it is low-growing and perennial, English Thyme makes an excellent ground cover along pathways, in beds and borders, and in the veggie and herb garden.
German Thyme is known for its use in stews, soups, sauces and herb bundles like Bouquet Garni and Herbes de Provence. German Thyme has a tiny leaf but is big on fragrance and flavor. Its minute size makes it perfect for planting at the front of the herb garden, backed by taller herbs for contrast. German Thyme is a perennial herb.
Richly colored leaves and a strong lemon scent and taste make Lemon Thyme the perfect addition to marinades and dressings, anywhere you would like a hint of lemon, like a fish dish! It’s easy to grow in the ground or a container.