- The joy and the agony of growing pink celery.

All gardeners understand the driving need to grow a new crop that we’ve never tried before, either for form or function.

Ilove how, as gardeners, we can grow foods that are not available in the supermarkets, testing our tastebuds and growing abilities. So when I saw a friend grow some pink celery, I instantly fell in love with the plant. I mean, how can you not fall for those long, fluorescent pink legs and green frilly hair?

I went on the search for seeds and found some on Trade Me from a New Zealand trader.

They arrived – how exciting! – but there were only six tiny seeds in the packet. I carefully planted them. Celery seeds like constant moisture and direct light.

Then I waited, and waited, and waited… then gave up. Sadly, my pink celery dreams started to fade.

Well those tiny seeds must have noticed, as after a fourweek wait, they then decided to wake up and start growing.

I was beyond happy – jumping-up-and-down-happy while being super careful not to knock the seedlings, of course.

At first, there were three that germinated. One died quick smart, and it was a nail-biting time. I was left watching the last two very closely and as we reached their two-month germination birthday, No 2 decided it was old enough and shrivelled up. All hopes were pinned on No 3.

There were a lot of encouraging words and little liquid feeds for that last one. To be honest, I am surprised I did not kill it with love. Luckily, it sat nicely by the window soaking in the winter sun growing slowly. So slowly.

It took seven months from planting the seed before it was healthy and large enough to transplant to a pot outside. It was the most carefully I have ever transplanted a seedling, I do not think I took a breath, treating it like it was a bubble about to pop. I then tended to it for another three months while it grew in my greenhouse. I made sure the soil did not dry out, otherwise it would have gone to seed and toughened up before its time. Then finally, approximately 10 months after planting the seeds, all the watching, waiting, feeding and caring for had paid off. The time arrived, it was harvest-worthy and oh so pink!

That first harvest had me smiling from ear to ear, and of course like most things we grow ourselves, always tastes the best fresh. Pink celery has thinner stems and the flavour was a bit stronger than traditional green celery, sweeter and I would even say slightly floral but that might have just been the pink look fooling my senses. It made an impact on the grazing platter and kids’ snack plates, being the first thing to get gobbled up and commented on. Cooked up, it kept its colour, the flavour improved and it froze well. I have even heard of pickling the stalks.

I harvested from the outside so it kept growing from the middle, after a few months of harvests I thought, why not try and get some seeds from the one plant that grew; it might be my only chance.

Again, the wait was on.

In the meantime, whilst the seedhead emerged it ended up being a perfect spot for some ladybugs to lay their eggs and then hatch, which is always fascinating to watch. There was a small aphid population that had started which gave them some food to get going and dealt with those aphids destroying the plant which had started to worry me.

Once the ladybugs had their feast and flew off, the seedhead dried out, and I let it drop its seeds in the same container it grew in . After watching it for many months now, nothing has grown. I have decided to leave it, ignore it, and surely come spring and some warmer temperatures, I might get lucky and see some action on the self-seeded pink celery.

Since you never know when the dinner conversation might turn towards pink celery, here are some facts. It is believed to be native to northern China and stemmed from wild celery. It made its way into Europe briefly in the 19th century. The botanical name for celery is Apium graveolens. It can also go by the name rose celery and Chinese pink celery. Sister celery varieties would be peppermint celery and red celery.

I learned celery seeds do not need to be covered when sowing as they need light to germinate and that they are awfully slow-growing so do not give up hope when growing from seed.

So that’s pink celery ticked off my list of things to grow. Hopefully I will see some self-seeded pink celery soon, but if not, that is okay, I have moved on to the pink banana now. Wish me luck.

How growing one plant can make you so happy, I do not know, but here it is. This is the story of how I saw, wanted and grew pink celery.