Scottish growing tool
Parsnips Variety Selector: Which One For Your Garden
Every recommendation below traces back to our full Parsnips varieties comparison — this page is the fast route to one answer for your specific situation, no clicking through required.
If: Canker resistance is my main worry → Just one reliable variety or Canker resistance is my main worry → Not sure, just give me the safest all-round choice or I'm growing on heavy or clay soil or Not sure, just give me the safest all-round choice
GladiatorAGM
The strongest all-round choice: RHS Award of Garden Merit, confirmed canker resistance, and it copes with a wider range of soils than most, with no contradictions to work around. It's also particularly suited to heavy soils, a detail not independently confirmed elsewhere, and it matures quickly.
If: Canker resistance is my main worry → A second variety for succession sowing or seed-saving insurance
Albion or PicadorAGM
Both carry confirmed AGM and canker resistance independently of Gladiator, so growing two of the three genuinely spreads risk rather than doubling down on one variety's weaknesses. A reasonable way to hedge against a single variety underperforming in a given year.
If: I want maximum root size, for exhibition
ViperAGM
Carries the AGM on the general RHS list, but isn't a canker-resistant choice: it may be susceptible to parsnip canker, with no resistance claim made anywhere. Bred to grow large for showing, not to fight off disease. It's an F1 hybrid, so saved seed won't grow true to type, and it needs extra root protection since it isn't resistant.
If: I mainly want good winter storage in the ground
PearlAGM
Stores brilliantly in the ground over winter, but its own plant page contradicts itself on canker: the description claims good canker resistance while the diseases section on the same page says it may be susceptible. Treat its canker resistance as unconfirmed, and choose Albion, Gladiator or Picador instead if canker is the problem you're solving for.
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