Decorative Edibles: Adding Beauty and Function to Your Garden
Introduction
Growing vegetables in your garden doesn’t have to be just about food. Many vegetables have stunning foliage and colors that can add beauty to your landscape. Mixing these decorative edibles with flowers and other plants can create a vibrant and eye-catching display.
Veggies and Herbs for Container Foliage
Adding herbs to your flower pots and hanging baskets is a classic way to incorporate edibles into your ornamental displays. They not only add visual interest with their varied leaf textures and colors, but also release pleasing aromas that attract pollinators and repel pests.
Ornamental Vegetable Plants
There’s a wide range of colorful vegetables that can add interest to your garden or containers. Leafy greens come in a variety of shades, from deep greens to vibrant reds and purples. Consider Red Fire or Red Sails lettuce for their reddish bronze hues, or Freckles romaine for its burgundy splotches. Rainbow chard offers a kaleidoscope of colors, with stems and leaf veins in orange, red, yellow, purple-red, and hot pink.
Sweet peppers are another great option for ornamental gardens. They come in a rainbow of colors, including purple, white, yellow, red, and orange. Eggplants also offer a variety of hues, from deep purple to green, white, pink, lavender, and even striped varieties.
Tomatoes, with their cheerful red fruit, are an obvious choice for adding color to your landscape. But did you know that tomatoes also come in a variety of colors, including white, yellow, purple, green, black, and striped? Beans are another colorful option, with purple and yellow varieties available. And don’t forget about the vibrant pink blossoms of scarlet runner beans.
Unusual Veggies for Foliage and Color
Cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli can add unique shapes and colors to your garden. Cabbage comes in many shapes and colors, including purple and orange cauliflower and purple broccoli. Globe artichoke adds dimension with its striking foliage and interesting fruit that turns a vibrant blue when left to mature.
Asparagus has long, wispy, fern-like fronds that provide a delicate texture to your plantings. Rhubarb returns reliably year after year with elephant ear-sized leaves and scarlet stalks that rise up from the soil.
Caring for Decorative Edibles
With the exception of perennials, change out your ornamental veggies each year and experiment with different combinations to find what looks most pleasing to you. Crop rotation helps keep your soil healthy and prevents disease. You can also change out crops seasonally, replanting with cool-season vegetables as others die back.
Include edible flowers in your ornamental garden for an extra touch of beauty and flavor. Keep your garden tidy by removing weeds and crop debris, and prune and deadhead plants regularly. Maintaining a neat and sanitary garden will reduce the risk of disease and encourage you to harvest your edible beauties.
Growing in Containers
Growing decorative edibles in containers makes them even easier to maintain. Just ensure that the pots are large enough to accommodate mature plants and provide adequate drainage.
Conclusion
Mixing decorative edibles with other plants is a great way to add beauty, color, and interest to your garden or containers. With a little creativity and experimentation, you can create a stunning and functional outdoor space that you’ll love to enjoy.
