Crops For Injecting Colour - Grow Your Own Wants Your Advice!

[Lesley Jay]

Grow Your Own is looking for your advice on crops that you grow to inject colour into your vegetable beds. This subject will cover a wide range of vegetables so which are your favourites and why?

As usual the best will be published in the June issue of Grow Your Own. So come on!! This is a big plug for the Grapevine and you might have your advice published.

[Flummery]

Swiss chard for its coloured stems. Nasturtium and calendula to add to salads.

[Two_Sheds]

Different coloured rows of lettuce: Australian Yellow, Lollo Rossa, Rusty, Salad Bowl etc.
Multi-coloured carrots.

[Peter]

Bright Lights, Swiss Chard.

Cosse Violette, Climbing French Bean.

[rustylady]

Ruby Chard, Purple podded french beans, runner beans (come with different coloured flowers from red, through pink to white). Red and green lettuce planted in patterns, flowers to attract pollinating insects, edible flowers such as nasturtium, herbs that may or may not flower (chives, borage, rosemary, lavender)

[serenity]

runner beans painted lady alternated with sweet peas up a wigwam of poles.
viola planted with salad rocket, both are edible
sunflowers, dwarf or giant. You can grow climbing beans up the stems of the giant types and the petals and seeds of the sunflower are edible.
redbor kale is very decorative as are the various types of chard. Chives in flower make beautiful edging, both the usual and also chinese or garlic chives

[nick the grief]

I've got some Helichrysums, Statice, liminanthes (poached egg plant), Nemophilia (baby blue eyes) Stocks & pot marigolds to plant out ... plus the Chrysanths & Dahlia's ....... should be enough colour ( I didn't like to mention the sweet peas in case Snadger reads it )

[Hans Mum]

Sunflowers, fantastic colour, bees & insects like them & then the bonus if you leave the heads on the birds get to eat the seeds a good allrounder

[Waffler]

Always nasturtiums - easy to grow and flowers liven up a salad.
A mix of bean plantsn for a variety of colorued flowers: runner, french, dwarf, plus peas - also sweet peas growing up them.
Yellow varieties of courgettes. Plus other squashes in interesting hues!
Rainbow carrots and radishes (though the colour is hidden by the soil!)
Tomatoes.

[Paulottie]

Allotment colour

Lesley Jay, I guess the criteria must be edible and colourful? In principle It must be food to find space on my plot. Last year I grew some Amaranthus (love lies bleeding) on the lottie.

It can be used like spinach. I think its a West Indian thing -although they call it something else-as I was told about it by a Jamaican fella. I must be honest and say I didn't actually get round to trying it!!! but it looks fab- with great big fluffy dangling magenta flower heads. This year I shall try some. I hope a grape could remind me what it is called... kaloo???...and if its tasty?

[Snadger]

I agree with serenity about the redbor kale, a big plant with wonderfully colourful foliage that wouldn't be out of place in a herbaceous border! It's main advantage for me though is that it is a Winter foliage plant (the colder the weather, the redder it gets!) It will be grown in my allotment every year and should fit in well with the Potager theme!

[Lesley Jay]

Lesley Jay, I guess the criteria must be edible and colourful? In principle It must be food to find space on my plot. Last year I grew some Amaranthus (love lies bleeding) on the lottie.

It can be used like spinach. I think its a West Indian thing -although they call it something else-as I was told about it by a Jamaican fella. I must be honest and say I didn't actually get round to trying it!!! but it looks fab- with great big fluffy dangling magenta flower heads.

Love Lies Bleeding is a fabulous looking plant - I love it! I never realised though that it could be used in cooking!!

[MURFE 18]

I can remember my father,used to plant runner beans the black. the green , red marble type along with sweet peas,at the bottom of the garden the colours looked fantastic all together,with the back drop of the very dark fence, i used to sit and watch insects, and birds coming and going,thanks Leslie for helping me in remembering, the times gone by.

[phil the shed]

Lesley Jay, I guess the criteria must be edible and colourful? In principle It must be food to find space on my plot. Last year I grew some Amaranthus (love lies bleeding) on the lottie.

It can be used like spinach. I think its a West Indian thing -although they call it something else-as I was told about it by a Jamaican fella. I must be honest and say I didn't actually get round to trying it!!! but it looks fab- with great big fluffy dangling magenta flower heads. This year I shall try some. I hope a grape could remind me what it is called... kaloo???...and if its tasty?

the plant is called kalaloo cook the young leaves like spinach and young stems steamed too. best but most annoying free crop, if you have it you always have it.

[Two_Sheds]

I've got liminanthes (poached egg plant), Nemophilia (baby blue eyes)

Me too! Have you seen the black version of nemophila (Penny Black)? Stunning, gotta black flower with white edging. Bees love it too.