Best garden veg

[MClan]

Hi All,

I want to make all my borders edible. What would your suggestions be for a aesthetically pleasing yet edible border in the garden?

Thanks,

Karen

[diggernotdreamer]

carouby de moussane mange tout has lovely bi coloured flowers, grow up a wigwam, purple podded peas also have pink or purple flowers, alternate red and green lettuce look pretty and look amazing if you allow them to go to seed, crimson flowered broad beans, Egyptian onions, elephant garlic, herbs have gorgeous flowers, clary, painted and regular sage, lovage, parsley, coriander (let seed for display of flowers and then collect seed for cooking), Reddy spinach with red veins, bulls blood beetroot, red orach, green orach, chives, garlic chives, rats tail radish, cardoon, fennel,

[MClan]

Are any of them likely to be around in the winter? I know the sages will be. Thanks.
Will be checking out your list in more detail later. Ilve never heard of orach before or rat's tail radish.

[diggernotdreamer]

If you want winter veg, you can try Russian red kale, ragged jack, purple sprouting late and early broccoli, Tuscan black kale, rubine brussel sprout (they are red in colour quite pretty), even leeks probably wouldn't look too awful, Orach is a member of the fat hen family (chenopodium), The rats tail radish I like, it goes to seed very quickly and produces edible pods that taste of radish. Egyptian onions and welsh onions will overwinter and you can pick a few bits off them.

[oldjerry]

Runner Bean 'Painted Lady' would be worth growing just as an ornamental annual climber.Wigwam it in your herbacious bed.Not the highest cropper,but still pretty good.Been in cultivation since the 1600's so can't be that bad.Just remembered,grow some globe artichoke,Scozonera,andFennel as well.

[Green Aura]

And some edible flowers - pot marigolds, violas, day lilies, nasturtiums etc. Bronze fennel and other perennial herbs.

I don't know if you've ever seen it but Geoff Hamilton's "Ornamental Kitchen Garden" is well worth a look for ideas (if you can still get hold of it ).

[doofaloofa]

Rainbow chard FTW

[diggernotdreamer]

Do people really like chard or do they just grow it, I used to grow it every year until my partner said it tasted like ironweed, and I had to agree with him, even the young stuff is a bit irony, so I don't bother anymore

[doofaloofa]

Do people really like chard or do they just grow it, I used to grow it every year until my partner said it tasted like ironweed, and I had to agree with him, even the young stuff is a bit irony, so I don't bother anymore

It's as tasty as flippin' orach!!

Srsly though it (along with spiach beet)is an aquired taste, but easier to grow (bolting wise) than spinach

Looks good

[donegalwildman]

I very much like chard and its close relative perpetual spinach (spinach beet). The chard leaves you can use like spinach, but the leaves are also large enough to use as wraps for fish or chicken. The stems can be steamed or cooked in other ways like asparagus. The great thing about perpetual spinach is you can cut leaves as you need them and it takes 18 months to go to seed, so it's very productive. The coloured chard is also very attractive as mentioned above.

[oldjerry]

[quote="donegalwildman"]I very much like chard and its close relative perpetual spinach (spinach beet).

I'm staggered.I accept that when you're really hungry,needs must and all that,but 'like very much' ?????

Tastes like old dishcloth to me

Still, wouldn't do if we was all the same would it??!!

[sleepyowl]

Cherry Tomatoes & chillies look good as fruits in the border, Jerusalem artichokes look like sunflowers, tea which is camellia sinesis, flowering thyme, rosemary, saffron, chamomile, pot marigold, lavender, borage, nasturtiums, courgettes

[becks77]

Jerusalem artichokes are good but spread like wild fire,warning , always have mine in a pot!
Herbs , like lavender and rosemary keep going all year and a herb garden foer the summer is lovely. Lettuces do well most of the year and always make me smile in a border

[donegalwildman]

I very much like chard and its close relative perpetual spinach (spinach beet).

I'm staggered.I accept that when you're really hungry,needs must and all that,but 'like very much' ?????

Tastes like old dishcloth to me

Still, wouldn't do if we was all the same would it??!!

It sells very well in the markets in France, too.......";^) I wouldn't be without it.

[diggernotdreamer]

It sells very well in the markets in France, too.......";^) I wouldn't be without it.[/quote]

and they eat frogs legs too