Ornamental veg?

bouicca21

I'm laying out a flower bed but I'd quite like to grow something edible too. When I was in Chicago last autumn I was struck by the use of ornamental cabbages in public areas. What other pretty veg are there? (Not actually keen on cabbage, too many memories of overcooked white cabbage in my youth.) Already planning on a wigwam of runner beans.

DaftyDuck

Swiss Chard comes in such varieties of colour you can drop bedding plants. Artichoke plants in bed centres as a focus, allowing some to fully flower, and pepper and chilli plants add colour late into autumn. Wigwams are great for squash, some courgettes, beans and grapes... Although that's stretching veg a bit...

RAS

As Dafty says; french beans come in lots of different sizes from dwarf to 8 foot+ monsters. Their flowers vary from white to dark purple and the beans from green to yellow and purple via striped. One of the prettiest IMO is O'Driscoll - a 1.2-1.5 metre cone of lime green leaves studded with contrasting lilac flowers leading to heavily striped beans. Very much a drying bean but raises comments when I grow it.

Some peas have very large flowers - again white like small sweet peas through to two tone purple amongst a lot of the older varieties.

Added to Swiss chard, beetroots with dark leaves traditionally used as bedding plants and some edible flowers. Try nasturiums, day lilies and old fashioned pot marigolds. Fennel both herb and bulb are pretty as well.

DaftyDuck

Don't forget herbs to go with the veg. Most are pretty, easily grown and, of course, smell stunning. Avoid cannabis, as you are overlooked.

bouicca21

No fears about cannabis. I must look amazingly conventional and conservative (small c) - I seem to be the only person in the world who is never approached by the 'weed man' at Camden Market, so my chances of getting a few seeds must be minimal.

Farway

DaftyDuck wrote: »

Don't forget herbs to go with the veg. Most are pretty, easily grown and, of course, smell stunning. Avoid cannabis, as you are overlooked.

Borage is a very good option, nice blue flowers, bees love it as well, and self sows itself forever

forgotmyname

Beetroot, i have just ordered some multi-coloured beetroot to get above the free postage level on some seeds i ordered.

The plot next to mine had borage and the bees were swarming over it, kids in a sweetshop.

I thought i want some of that, and thats what i got.. The following year the borage was everywhere. All over my plot and i didnt actually plant any of it. Its like a weed.

But the bees do love it. So it it worth having?

DigForVictory

Herbs galore, with nasturtiums & dwarf peas?

The thymes & oreganos come in several colours & scents & they all go into spag bol, stews etc happily.

Fennel can go architectural - tall & 'stick'y, but still makes a nice nibble if you like a little aniseed & then the bulbs cook up delicious...

Nasturtiums can produce bright puddles of colour that cooperate with a zingy peppery taste in salads (my teens eat greens! If they're nasturiums, or peas, or green beans still on the plant...)

The peas blossom exactly like sweetpeas but with a crunchy followthrough (yum!)

Have fun!

REEN

Are you including fruit? Strawberry "Tarpan" has pretty pink flowers.

bouicca21

Yep, fruit too. Some interesting possibilities turned up through Davesnave's link on the blueberry thread. I do love blueberries!

Davesnave

Here's a perilla we'd grow just to put in the ornamental garden. Not the easiset to germinate, though:

http://www.seedaholic.com/perilla-shiso-akajiso-red-leaf.html

There's a green one too.:)