Stop and Smell (and Taste) the Flowers

Make your landscapes work harder by incorporating edibles into your designs.

These days it seems every landscaped bed needs to work extra hard – to impress the visitor and to give the space purpose – while still being easy to maintain. One of the simplest ways to make people stop and stare is to incorporate an unconventional plant into a traditional design, such as a tasty vegetable or herb nestled among colorful flowers, to bring multipurpose to the garden.

For years designers have used spreading, fragrant herbs as groundcovers and border spacing: Thyme, Mint, Tarragon. They are hardy, forgiving, and attract pollinator interest. Today the lines have blurred even further with the use of edible Lettuces and Greens, as well as tender herbs and edibles like Strawberry, Basil, Parsley and Rosemary for even more encouragement to stop and smell (or taste) the garden.

Some other edible staples that can upscale any design for maximum texture are:

·      Bulls Blood Beets

·      Bright Lights Swiss Chard

·      Black Magic Tuscan Kale

·      Orion Fennel

·      Green Globe Artichoke

·      Black Pearl Ornamental Pepper

·      Osaka Cabbage

And while they’ve typically been relegated to the “backyard” or vegetable-only spaces, compact-growing Tomato, Eggplant and Pepper varieties have advanced in breeding to make them worthy of a front garden spotlight, too. Many new varieties mature into colorful fruit arrays for bold texture while maintaining a pleasing and healthy plant structure that complements Petunias, Pentas, Zinnias, Begonia and many other colorful annuals, perennials and tropicals.

If the flowers you are mixing into your new edible garden design are also edible as well, now you’ve got a winning and inclusive combination! Flowers that can offer flavor or tasting opportunities include Violas, Pansies, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Hibiscus, Calendula, and Marigold.

In summary, the addition of edible vegetables, flowers and herbs creates that surprising design moment for the visitor, while still supplying an easy installation and maintenance for the landscape team to care for through the season. These additions also inspire visitors to try these types of pairings in their own gardens at home, which every year seem to shrink as people downsize their homes into urban spaces or move into blank-slate suburban developments.

Next time, add an edible and help garden visitors expect the unexpected.

For more information or to place an order for edible garden products, visit BallSeed.com or call 800 879-BALL.