Common or Garden Variety Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tomato

Gardener's Delight is my go-to variety for tomatoes. Producing small, sweet fruits the plants are happy outside in a grow bag, so can be grown on a patio or any space in the garden which gets a fair amount of sun.

Gardener's Delight is classed as a "Cherry" type tomato. The other main types of tomato are "Salad Tomatoes" (producing medium sized fruits), "Beefsteak Tomatoes" (very large fruits) and "Plum Tomatoes" (various sizes, with an oval rather than rounded shape).

"Moneymaker" is a salad tomato, and is a traditional favourite. It produces medium sized, round, red fruits - the archetypal tomato.

"Yellow Stuffer" is a beefsteak tomato, producing fruits which weigh up to 200g (7oz). As the name implies, it is a yellow tomato. Although most people automatically think red when they think of tomatoes, there is actually a wide range of colours available, mainly shades of yellows, oranges, reds and purples - some varieties are even striped.

Answer: Cucumber

In the UK, cucumbers grow best in a greenhouse, but further south, some varieties can also do very well outside in a grow bag against a south-facing wall.

"Telegraph", as the name suggests, produces a particularly long, straight cucumber and was first introduced around 1897, which means it is classed as a "heritage variety". This is one of the varieties which will grow well outdoors.

The "Burpless Tasty Green" also does well outside, and has been bred to be easily digestible. The fruits are relatively small, but sweet and juicy without the bitterness that some varieties are prone to.

You may not even recognise the "Crystal Apple" variety as a cucumber because it's round and yellow rather than long and green. They were introduced to the UK from New Zealand and have been cultivated since about 1894. The variety is also known as the "Lemon Cucumber" or "Crystal Lemon". The fruit is about the size of an apple, and the colour of a lemon, but the flavour is 100% cucumber.

Answer: Lavender

In my garden I have the lavender varieties "Hidcote" and "Munstead", but the names of these three are far more evocative, to me they sound like champion race horses! Perhaps it's because these three are all French lavenders while the more mundane names belong to English lavenders. The main differences are that French lavenders are larger, bloom for longer, and have a much fainter scent than English lavenders. If you want the characteristic lavender scent then choose an English lavender. Bees are not fussy and are attracted to either type.

These three varieties all have the rounded flower heads topped with tufts of purple petals-like leaves (bracts), characteristic of French lavender. "Fathead" has particularly large flowerheads, while "Flaming Purple" has very long bracts which give it the appearance of an exploding firework.

Answer: Squash

The squash family is extremely large and varied and includes well-known vegetables such as courgettes (zucchini), pumpkins and marrows. I tend to grow courgettes, which need very little attention, just a bit of sunshine and regular watering, and the fruits seem to almost expand in front of my eyes, which calls for creativity in the kitchen to use up the harvest. Courgette brownies anyone?

There are so many interesting varieties of squash available. The "Vegetable Spaghetti" is an oval, straw-coloured squash with yellow flesh. It is part of the family of spaghetti squashes whose flesh looks solid when raw, but when cooked it falls apart into spaghetti-like ribbons.

The "Custard White" is a flat, white, flying-saucer shaped squash, while the "Turk's Turban" looks like two half-squashes stuck together with a large rounded base and a smaller rounded cap on top, a little like a cottage loaf.

Answer: Onion

If you got this one right you can claim to "know your onions". There is certainly plenty to know and the differences between UK and US terminology can lead to getting your onions in a tangle. What in the US is a "yellow onion" is a "brown onion" (or just "onion") in the UK, and "green onions", "scallions", "salad onions" and "spring onions" are used interchangeably to refer to small onions with green tops. We do seem to agree on the red onion at least - though I'd argue that they're actually more purple.

The "Senshyu Yellow" is a Japanese variety, which would probably be called a brown onion in the UK, though it has a particularly pale straw-coloured skin. "Shakespeare" is a British variety (of course!) with a dark brown skin. "Red Baron" is, unsurprisingly, a red onion. Red onions tend to be sweeter than brown/yellow onions and look very attractive in a salad.

Answer: Potato

The humble potato is traditionally a staple of the British diet. Ranging from baby new potatoes in the summer to enormous baking potatoes in the winter, they can be grown in the ground or in large pots or deep growing bags. Potatoes originated in South America, and are also grown extensively in the USA.

Like other vegetables, potatoes also come in different shades, while the most common potatoes (commentators?) are white (such as the "Maris Peer"), there are also red-skinned varieties such as "Desiree" and "Rooster" and purple varieties like "Purple Majesty" and "Violetta". Some of these have a purple skin only, while other varieties also have purple flesh.

Answer: Carrot

Carrots are traditionally planted in the ground, but can also be grown in large pots. Though we're used to orange carrots, they were originally white, yellow or purple. The orange carrot first became popular with Dutch farmers in the 17th century. A variety of carrot was developed with lots of beta-carotene, giving it a bright orange hue. This variety was then grown abundantly in tribute to William of Orange, to such an extent that the older varieties were largely forgotten. Some of these varieties have been revived in recent years and white, yellow and purple carrots are becoming more well known again.

"Fire Wedge" is a name very descriptive of a carrot, and this variety is particularly succulent and good for juicing. The "Samurai" is a red skinned carrot originating from Japan, while the "Night Bird", an almost black coloured carrot, is one of the purple varieties. It is particularly rich in the much talked about purple anthocyanins which are thought to be beneficial to heart health by helping reduce blood pressure if eaten on a regular basis.

Answer: Blackberry

I have to admit, I have no clue what variety my blackberries are. They were here before I was, and produce delicious plump, sweet fruits. All I need to do is to try and stop the brambles taking over the entire garden. The blossoms are very popular with bees, and some of the more overgrown patches have provided a safe spot for birds to build their nests.

Commercial varieties of blackberries have the advantage that they've been bred to be less prickly and not as rampant as wild varieties, which removes the need for the ongoing woman vs. brambles battle I have going on in my garden.

Some varieties have been bred to produce absolutely enormous fruits - both "Karaka Black" and "Blacke Butte" produce fruits up to an amazing 5cm (2 inches) long! The "Loch Ness" produces a more traditional looking blackberry, but is a thornless variety which produces a heavy crop on a small plant and so is suitable for smaller gardens.

Answer: Buddleia

Buddleia or buddleja, also known as the butterfly bush, is often found growing wild. The seeds don't need fertile soil, and can even grow in decaying mortar. In the UK it's known among the older population as the "bombsite plant", self-seeded plants with their cone-shaped purple blooms would grow prolifically on urban bomb sites in the aftermath of WWII.

Unfortunately this proliferation can cause problems and some strains which grow wild are even listed as an invasive species. It can cause damage to buildings, and can interfere with overhead power lines on the railway lines beside which it is common sight.

On the other hand, wildlife conservation organisations are encouraging people to grow buddleia as it's a wonderful plant for butterflies and bees. The good news is that varieties sold for growing in gardens have been bred to be less prolific than the older varieties which have escaped into the wild. The seed company Thompson and Morgan supply a whole range of buddleia varieties in different colours under the trademarked name "Buzz", including sky blue, indigo, magenta and ivory. "Purple Emperor" is a compact variety, while "Camberwell Beauty" shares its name with a species of butterfly.

Answer: Lettuce

Lettuce comes in a wide range of varieties with lots of different flavours, textures and colours to choose from. It can be grown easily in the garden, and varieties which are suitable for "cut and come again" harvesting are very popular, as you can pick what you need ensuring you always get to eat extremely fresh lettuce.

"Webb's Wonderful" is an iceberg, or crisphead variety. Its leaves are densely packed and have a refreshing crispness and subtle flavour. "Valmaine" is a romaine variety, which when mature grows into conical heads. It has sweet crunchy stems and fleshy leaves and is suitable for the cut and come again method of harvesting. "Lollo Rossa" is an attractive red lettuce with frilly leaves and a slightly bitter flavour.