7 Edible, Pretty Wonders of the Plant World
August 16, 2019
If one doesn’t have to be a chef to be a gourmet, does one have to be a garden designer to develop pretty edibles? Obviously not. Nevertheless a few cues from a designer and plantsman might help make your potager that much more interesting. As a child, I learned to combine unique textures of foliage and match the subtlest colors from the potager: curly kale with darkened cauliflower seedlings, vapory fennel one of rough tomato plants and so forth. Let us take a peek at seven edible plants as yummy as they are pretty.
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1. Kale. Within this spectacular entry screen in the Montreal Botanical Garden, perfectly grown kale is on par with fiery pelargoniums and soon-to-bloom fountain grasses. Though a few cultivars are more rigorous than others, kale is in most instances a high-drama leaves plant that is ideal for cool summers and autumn screens — it improves after frosts.
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2. Nasturtium. Nobody would think about rapping on this giant reed (Arundo donax‘Versicolor’, zone 7), however similar appearing to sugarcane it may be.
The overflowing nasturtium in its foundation, however, is as pretty as an annual since it’s tasty when mixed fresh with different greens. The two leaves and the flowers have a powerful flavor flavor. Give it full sun, average soil — no soluble fertilizer, please — and only enough water to ensure beauty all summer long. At Giverny, Monet had it running almost wild.
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3. Cardoon. The stately artichoke (Cynara scolymus, zone 6) would be a must-have plant in many gardens without the guarantee of tasty flower heads. With its daring and generous silvery foliage, it makes for an architectural statement unlike any other.
Even better is its own cousin, photographed here, the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus, zone 7). Its foliage stands outside all summer and late into fall. Blanched, its leaf stalks are still an old-world treat.
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4. Shared sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides, zone 4) is actually not that common, particularly not in the domain of peas and carrots. But a handful of named Europeans selections have proven themselves to get their considerably improved fruit return.
Small and abundant, this shrub’s small, bright orange veggies result in exotic and superloaded juices, and they’re prepared early in summertime. Fine and silvery, its foliage that is deciduous pleases. To maintain it to a good size and contour, valiant anglers do some annual formative pruning, as was perfectly done on this Montreal specimen.
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5. Herbs. They jumped over the fence ago and have ventured profusely into flower beds and planters of all sorts. Purple-leaved basil and golden marjoram, spiky chives and lacy parsley now all brush up against petunias and bacopas. In this picture various sages diligently form a strict grid, yet they might have just too formed a low hedge border.
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6. Bay laurel. Together with bean tepees and sculptural high blueberry bushes, bay laurels (Laurus nobilis, zone 8) help add structure and rhythm into the potager year-round. In milder climates they sit in the ground; in colder ones they sit in large bathtub thrones brought in for winter. In balls, tiers or pyramids, bay laurels take to pruning just like several other plants.
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7. Rhubarb. As final proof of the decorative appeal of a number of the easiest edibles, let’s consider the famous garden Les Quatre Vents, in Charlevoix, Quebec. There, along an impressive series of water basins flanked by a dual alley of thujas, common rhubarb stands proud and loud. Pretty, isn’t it?
More: Flowers and berries Mix in Beautiful Edible Gardens