Greens come in so many colors.

Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? But leafy greens aren't just green. They can be red, purple, maroon, speckled, multicolored, flecked and all shades of green from ink-black to pale spring green. Flavors range from mild to pungent and sharp on the tongue. Textures are crisp to buttery soft.

The National Garden Bureau has designated 2009 as "year of greens," encouraging gardeners to cultivate these versatile vegetables that can be harvest at any stage of growth and eaten raw or cooked.

Spin a seed rack and you'll see so many varieties of lettuce and greens, it will make you dizzy.

Several years ago, Iowa State University Research Farms grew greens in a cool-season garden for Field Days. At the Nashua farm, lettuce varieties such as "Flashy Black's Trout," "Rosalita Red" romaine, "Green Forest" romaine, "Red Cross Butterhead," "Butter Crunch" and "Esmeralda" were grown, along with "Discovery" and "Magenta Sunrise" chard, "Top Bunch" collard, "Tender Green" mustard, "Melody" spinach and "Scarlet Spinach."

I have an "Asian Baby Leaf" gourmet mesclun seed packet on my desk awaiting planting. It came with a press release from Renee's Garden. This one is described as a baby salad mix with a "full array of colors, shapes and textures." It includes komatsunam, mizuna, mild red and green mustard, rocket, tatsoi and Chinese cabbage, and can be harvested in 40 days.

Mizuna and mustards have been cultivated for more than 2,500 years, according to NGB. George Washington recommended soldiers eat greens to prevent scurvy and during the American Revolution, ordered someone be sent out each day to gather greens growing around the camp to distribute among troops. Thomas Jefferson grew lettuces, endive, cress and spinach.

Many greens belong to the cabbage family, including arugula, mizuna, tatsoi, cress, collards and mustard greens.

Types of greens

Arugula (Eruca sativa): Also called rocket salad or rocket: Easy to grow, lobed green leaves with bite, sometimes compared to horseradish; harvest in 4 to 6 weeks.

Mizuna (Brassica rapa japonica): White stems and delicate green leaves with finely cut fringed edges; fast growing, ready to eat in 20 to 40 days; heat tolerant without bolting.

Tatsoi (Brassica rapa rosularis): Spoon cabbage or rosette pak choi; very dark green leaves, almost black in color; mild peppery flavor; weather tolerant; ready to harvest in 5 to 7 weeks.

Cress: Fast growing, harvested as a sprout within a week or so after germination; tangy, pepper-like flavor and aroma.

Try "Wrinkled Crinkled Crumpled."

Collards (Brassica oleracea, Acephala group): Type of non-heading cabbage with large, blue-green coarse leaves, distinct cabbage-like flavor; harvest at all stages; hardy and tolerate temperatures down to 15 F; frost exposure sweetens flavor.

Try "Vate," "Champion."

Mustard greens (Brassica juncea): Cool-season vegetable; large leaves; may bolt when day lengths get longer in spring; begin harvesting outer leaves from mustards when they are only 3 to 4 inches tall.

Try "Red Giant," "Ruby Streaks."

Leafy lettuce

Bibb - Whorl of open/semi-open leaves with a very dense, almost romaine-like heart.

Butterhead/Boston - Forms semi dense ball, less crisp than bibbs; buttery texture; reach full size about 8 to 10 weeks after planting.

Try "Buttercrunch," "Tom Thumb," "Marveille de Quatre Saison."

Romaine: Large, green wrinkled and oblong leaves; cone-shaped heads; crisp texture and flavor; 9 to 10 weeks to maturity; heat tolerant.

Try "Parris Island Cos," "Little Gem," '"Rouge d'Hiver" or "Red Winter."

Leaf lettuce can be successfully grown in a container; a large enough container can fit more than one variety or choose a pre-mixed blend.

Try "Black Seeded Simpson," "Red Sails," "Merlot," "Speckles," "Lolla (or Lollo) Rossa."

Summercrisp lettuce: Also called Batavian lettuce, is not common in American gardens but have crisp texture and sweet flavor. Harvest when young or at maturity, 50 to 60 days.

Try "Nevada," "Rouge Grenoblois."

Mache or corn salad (Valerianella locusta): Also called lamb's lettuce; glossy, spoon-shaped leaves are mild with a sweet nutty flavor and grow in attractive small rosettes.

Try "Vit."

Garden sorrel (Rumex acetosa) or Spinach dock: Hardy perennial in USDA zones 4 to 9, one of the earliest to harvest and produces into fall, often grown as annual; long green spoon-shaped leaves have a sharp, mildly sour, lemony flavor.

Try "Red Veined Sorrel."

Source: National Garden Bureau

Harvesting greens

• Greens can be harvested at any stage.
• Micro: Plants harvested as young seedlings with only one or two true leaves, usually within 10 to 14 days of planting the seeds. Often used as a garnish or in salads.
• Baby: Grown for a few more weeks; small but full of flavor
• Full: Greens at maturity.