50 to 55 days from direct-sowing.

One bite of this scrumptious zucchini will convince you that you have a new favorite. And if you live in a hot-summer climate, all the better — Partenon is specially adapted to produce well in high-heat temperatures where others flounder. Big yields, tender-sweet fruit, open plant habit for easy harvest . . . what’s not to love about Partenon?!

Partenon takes its name from its nature: it is a parthenocarpic, or self-pollinating, variety, much like a seedless watermelon. It has very few seeds, and what it does have are soft and small. But the real differences are its ability to grow under adverse conditions, its resistance to cucumber beetles (a big pest for other zucchini varieties), and its longer freshness after harvest.

First, the vigor and determination to bloom and fruit in high heat and other stressful growing conditions. Many zukes simply won’t pollinate once the temperature climbs abo