Romaine lettuce is a happy medium between iceberg lettuce and leaf, with crunchy sweet midribs and soft medium green leaves (making it more nutritious than iceberg). This is an easy lettuce to grow, in the ground or in container planters, and even stands in as a centerpiece for edible baskets. As a frost-tolerant annual, lettuce can be planted before your area's average last frost date in the spring, and actually prefers the cooler temps. At the peak of summer, lettuce prefers some protection from the hot afternoon sun, but chances are you'll have eaten it all before it has a chance to bolt!