Eggplant
Early Black Egg: 65 days. An early Japanese variety of good flavor with small, tender, egg-shaped fruits about 5 in. long. Sets well in the Mid-Atlantic, including cool, short-season areas. Vigorous plants, more tolerant of flea beetles than other varieties.
Black Beauty: The gorgeous, delicious, purple-black fruit not only stars in many fabulous recipes, it’s so easy to grow at home for the freshest flavor. Plants produce pretty, prolific harvests in warm weather—keep them well-watered and harvest often. Pick the fruit before the glossy, dark skin begins to fade. (The color and glossiness of the eggplant determine the best time to harvest, rather than the fruit’s size.) Grows beautifully in garden beds or containers.
Rosita: 4 ft. tall plants produce excellent yields of lavender-pink, teardrop-shaped fruits with white shoulders. The skin is tender without a trace of bitterness, and the white flesh is mild and sweet, because the seeds are so late to develop in the fruits.