By Johanna Silver, Sunset test garden coordinator

Move over, orange! These babies come in shades of purple, yellow, white (ok, and creamy orange, too). Each one glows when pulled from the soil.

You can get most of the varieties shown above from Johnny's -- including 'White Satin', 'Yellowstone,' 'Purple Haze' (top carrot), and 'Purple Rain' (not pictured, but very similar to 'Deep Purple,' pictured above).

We've found that the purples are deepest in color when harvested on the younger side, whereas the yellows mature into brightness.

New to planting carrots? Choose a sunny spot and sow seeds directly into the soil -- most root crops prefer not to be transplanted. Make sure your soil is free from stones and clumps, as loose, fine soil will help ensure smooth, straight carrots. Keep the soil evenly moist (not soggy) to avoid split roots. Make sure you thin plants when the tops are a few inches high to give each carrot enough room to form, and keep the area well weeded. Seeds will grow best when planted in spring or late summer, and your crop will store well in the ground in mild winter climates (as ours did).

Fun carrot information for your next cocktail party:

Jan Vanderheide, carrot expert at Bejo, the breeder, producer, and distributor of these seeds, thinks purple carrots make the best carrot juice because they are beautiful in color and are not as intensely "carroty" as the traditional orange ones. He recommends adding some berries (don't worry, the color will remain as intense no matter what type is thrown into the mix). His next favorite for juice is yellow carrots, and he's not alone in this -- much of the 'Yellowstone' crop is turned into juice concentrate for the Japanese market.  Orange carrots come third for juice on his list.

I wonder if we've got a juicer in the test kitchen.....