Brassica oleracea var.acephala Joseph Coterel Creme Chantilly

The Creme Chantilly Cabbage, also known as the Joseph Coterel Cabbage, is a curious variegated foraged cabbage that was born in 2006 in the vegetable plot of an amateur garden located in the small village of Carbay in Maine-et-Loire, France. Over two or three years the plant forms a huge clump of large, wavy and undulate leaves of a blue-green colour, beautifully bordered with cream frills. Its spring flowering, also cream-coloured and very light in appearance, adds to its charm. A new darling of landscape design, the Cabbage Creme Chantilly Joseph Coterel received the award of merit at Courson in spring 2011. An architectural plant with exotic charm, it structures and illuminates the garden or terrace all year round.

The Creme Chantilly Cabbage is a plant from the Brassicaceae family, formerly crucifers. It is a natural mutation of foraged cabbage, Brassica oleacera var.acephala, cultivated for animal feed, perfectly edible. It is a biennial to short-lived perennial plant, with a lifespan of no more than two or three years (if flowering is eliminated). It reproduces by propagation of tiny little cabbages that are born in the axil of its leaves. The obtained seeds only give 100% albino cabbages, incapable of photosynthesis, with a very short lifespan.

The Creme Chantilly Cabbage has very fast growth, it can reach 2m (7ft) in height when flowering and 1m (3ft) in width. It develops a thick stem that fills, as it grows, with large, slightly wavy textured leaves, with lobed, cream-coloured edges. The vegetation, very resistant to frost, persists in winter. It will be necessary to stake the tallest specimens, which can be knocked down by the wind. Flowering occurs in May: stems protruding from the foliage bear numerous small white flowers with yellow stamens. This extremely ornamental cabbage is also edible after cooking.

The Joseph Coterel Cabbage is not difficult to grow, but it requires good fertile soil that remains moist, alike to other garden vegetables. It will find a place in large flowerbeds, in the company of giant hostas and angelicas for example. Placed at a distance, pretty perennials like Geranium Rozanne or Blue Cloud will accompany it with ease. Other plants with cloud-like flowering such as Thalictrum, Aster cordifolius or Eragrostis spectabilis will create poetic scenes alongside it, again respecting a safe distance when planting. These plants, gaining size and flowering from mid-summer to the first cold weather, will enhance the magnificent foliage of the cabbage.