I have friends who want to grow a few veggies but they don’t want a “garden” because they want to keep the charming landscape that they worked so hard to develop. With today’s food prices on the rise and no end in sight, there’s a way to do both that’s both charming and practical.
Here are a few vegetables that will actually enhance a flower bed or that can be planted in front of ornamental shrubbery. I’m also listing a few edible flowers.
Opal Basil is beautiful and looks great in any flower bed. It’s seed heads are also an insectary which draws pollinators. Another beautiful edible is Mizuna. In the mustard family, this vegetable comes in pink, maroon and bronze. The young leaves are beautifully airy and delicious in salads. Mature leaves may be sauteed or gently steamed.
Scarlet kale looks amazing when mixed among flowers, as does a variety called “Dazzling Blue.” And in the spinach family, Orach leaves are incredibly colorful, ranging from chartreuse to neon pink to bronze. Leaf lettuces, like Lollo Rosso and Tambay, can be quite beautiful when planted in your ornamental gardens.
And many flowers are edible as well, such as nasturium which offers edible leaves, flowers and seed pods. Hostas and day lilies (but only the old-fashioned orange day lillies– the same as those you often see growing wild beside the road) are edible when the small shoots first emerge in spring. There are a lot more ways to integrate edibles into your landscape. One of our “Tea and Garden Talks” this year will cover this very subject. We’ll keep you posted in our newsletters.
Jackie Wall is a certified North Carolina gardener.
