Growing Claytonia (Miner's Lettuce): A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 10, 2026
Claytonia, also known as miner’s lettuce, is a cold-hardy salad green with an unmistakable look: round leaves that appear pierced by their own stem, with small flowers seeming to emerge right from the leaf’s center.
Direct-seed for the healthiest roots
Direct-seeding is recommended and any time from midspring through late summer works. Sow half an inch apart in rows 4 to 6 inches apart, covering a quarter inch deep, then thin to 4 to 6 inches. The roots are sensitive to disturbance, which makes transplanting riskier than direct-seeding even though it’s technically possible.
Two harvest styles
For cut-and-come-again baby leaf, cut leaves above the basal plate, leaving the plant intact to keep producing. For full rosettes, harvest below the basal plate instead, taking the whole plant. Either way, claytonia keeps branching and adding new growth well past the first cut.
Claytonia has no recorded companions or antagonists in our data. See the full companion guide for claytonia for how it’s tracked. At 9 plants per square foot, it’s a dense, cold-season salad crop for the Garden Designer, useful for filling the gap when warm-season greens have finished.
Source: Claytonia: Key Growing Information, Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Companion planting guide for Claytonia (Miner's Lettuce) · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 3-9. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Method: Direct sow: Direct-sow outside. Claytonia (Miner's Lettuce) doesn't transplant well, or doesn't need the extra time indoors.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Claytonia (Miner's Lettuce) plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 9 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 3-6 in.
Varieties worth considering
- Straight-species claytonia (Claytonia perfoliata): Johnny's Selected Seeds sells this species plain, without competing named cultivars; the distinctive leaf shape and cold-hardiness are traits of the species itself. (source)
Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.
Where to buy claytonia seeds
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a genuine consensus of positive, independent reviews. See the sources cited on each item.
See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing claytonia (miner's lettuce)" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
%3A%20A%20cold-hardy%20salad%20green%20with%20distinctive%20round%20leaves%20that%20look%20pierced%20by%20their%20own%20stem%2C%20and%20small%20flowers%20that%20appear%20to%20grow%20right%20out%20of%20the%20leaf's%20center.)
Pin this for later
Growing Claytonia (Miner's Lettuce): A cold-hardy salad green with distinctive round leaves that look pierced by their own stem, and small flowers that appear to grow right out of the leaf's center.
Save to Pinterest