Edible Landscaping

With every dollar stretching a little farther these days, those fortunate enough to have a small yard or even a patio pot can save on grocery bills by planting beautiful fruits and vegetables in among annual and perennial flowers.

Here are a few plants that blur the lines between the traditional flower bed and the standard vegetable garden or fruit patch. Mix these fruits and vegetables in with your flowers and soon you’ll find that vegetables can be just as beautiful as flowers, and much more useful!

Eggplant

This beautiful member of the nightshade family adds fuzzy purple foliage and beautiful little purple flowers to any spot in the garden. Eggplants are actually rather compact plants which blend in very well with annuals and the beautiful purple fruits are an added interest hanging on the plants until they are ready to be harvested.

Strawberries

Whether in a patio pot or planted as a border to a perennial bed, strawberries are a delicious addition to any garden. Dainty white flowers in early spring can serve as a great border to any flower bed and the ripe red fruit is a delightful bonus. Try planting strawberries in a perennial bed among dianthus or hardy geraniums, but remember you might need to net the ripening berries.

Potatoes

Often overlooked in the home garden, potatoes are a staple in the kitchen and easy to grow. Plant potatoes in an annual bed that has been dug deep to loosen the soil. The foliage and small flowers are a delightful addition to any landscape and usually the color of the potatoes is seen up the stem and into the veins of the leaves so try planting red or purple potatoes for added color.

Greens

Lettuce greens come in all shades and shapes. Direct seed in the spring time for a beautiful foliage plant and mix in pansies or nasturtium for an edible salad garden. Lettuce dies out in the heat of summer, but other greens such as kale or rainbow chard add beauty and interest that can be harvested a little at a time so there won’t be huge gaps in the landscaping.

No matter what the size of your garden, mixing fruits and vegetables can help with the grocery budget while providing the freshest produce you can find. A border of rainbow chard or a cluster of potato foliage among some petunias will bring beauty along with the pride in knowing that you grew it yourself.

These are just a few suggestions of how to begin to blur the lines between the standard vegetable plot planted in straight rows in the backyard and the flower garden for display out front. The beauty of a ripening tomato might be the next that sneaks into the perennial bed amidst red bee balm, or perhaps some green beans or sweet peas might nestle in with spring blooming bulbs. Patio pots can be large enough to hold the beautiful big leaves and yellow flowers of summer squash. The only limits are the boundaries of you yard. Plant away!