Malabar greens

When spinach is done for summer, that's when this sun-loving substitute comes into its own.

- chloe thomson

In the heat of the summer garden, when your spinach leaves become bitter and the plants wilt in the hot sun, it's time to consider a heat-loving alternative one undeterred by the extreme, hot summer conditions.

A heat-tolerant climbing vine from the tropics of Asia and Africa, Malabar spinach - also known as Ceylon spinach, climbing spinach and vine spinach - is actually not a true spinach. It belongs to the Basellaceae family but its leaves taste like spinach and can be enjoyed raw or cooked.

There are two main species - Basella rubra, with an attractive dark-red stem, and B. alba with a green stem - but both have the same heart-shaped dark-green edible leaves.

In warmer, frost-free climates it can be grown year-round, but in cooler areas it's grown as a summer annual. Start it easily from seeds or cuttings, though seeds will germinate best if scarified with a bit of sandpaper first.