Ornamental Vegetable bed

[maverick451]

Hi

Im planning to create an ornamental vegetable/kitchen bed cottage garden style in a large empty bed near the house.

Im a relative beginner so looking for ideas to veg/herbs which would look good?

So far ive thought off

Sweetcorn (for some height)
Rocket potatoes with their purple flowers
Kale- green and purple
Red chard
Chives
Purple Basil
Dwarf beans of some sort?

[PyreneesPlot]

If you had space for a couple of wigwams climbing beans cosse violette look and taste good. Carouby de Mausanne (sp?) mangetout peas have lovely flowers.
Globe artichoke?

[veggiechicken]

Beetroot and carrot for their leaves
Rainbow chard -comes in stunning range of colours
Rhubarb - dramatic leaves
Courgettes have huge bright flowers
Salad bowl lettuce - red and green or some of the frilly/spotty lettuce.
Onions left to flower - fantastic seed heads.
Edible flowers - nasturtiums, marigold
Perennial herbs for year round interest - eg rosemary, sage. thyme, oregano

The list is endless..............

[VolesAteMyPeas]

You MUST have globe artichokes in my opinion. Such a beautiful plant and not so hard to keep happy. The ones on an abandoned plot near mine have had the biggest yield I've ever seen this year despite having been abused for nigh on two years.

[Snadger]

You MUST have globe artichokes in my opinion. Such a beautiful plant and not so hard to keep happy. The ones on an abandoned plot near mine have had the biggest yield I've ever seen this year despite having been abused for nigh on two years.

I have a Cardoon which is very similar to globe artichoke. I grew it from seed and it gets bigger and more achitectural every year. It is now standing about 10 feet high with globes at the top!

[VolesAteMyPeas]

I have a Cardoon which is very similar to globe artichoke. I grew it from seed and it gets bigger and more achitectural every year. It is now standing about 10 feet high with globes at the top!

Sorry to hijack the thread here but, Snadger, have you ever eaten your cardoon? What's it like? I'm thinking about growing some next year. Is it worth the space if you're just interested in yield and unusual veg but not stunning architecture? My interest is piqued!

[Snadger]

Ded Duke of York has lovely red potato folaige. Fennel is a nice architectural plant also. Of the herbs Bergamot has lovely red spider like flowers, so much so that a friend of mine who has a phobia against spiders won't go near it!Lemon balm is another favourite.
Chives are good for edging beds with there purple flowers along with yellow Thyme.

I have a potager type garden which is evolving all the time. I always grow for flavour or ornamental purposes with yield not being my main concern. Having said that if you grow stuff naturally, all mixed up with herbs flowers fruit and veg, your yeild increases anyway.

One way of growing soft fruit ornamentally which I have adopted is to grow gooseberries,white currants and red currants as standards or half standard within the beds. They add a bit of height and are above underlying veg and flowers.

[Snadger]

Sorry to hijack the thread here but, Snadger, have you ever eaten your cardoon? What's it like? I'm thinking about growing some next year. Is it worth the space if you're just interested in yield and unusual veg but not stunning architecture? My interest is piqued!

The Cardoon is supposed to be blanched like rhubarb early in the year and the white stalks eaten like Seakale, another veg I experimented with. (pigeons love it!)
I haven't tried blanching it but had a taste of the green bit once and it was horrible!
I was originally inspired by the Victorian Kitchen Garden where I think they wrapped it in straw and hesian to blanch the centre.(or did they just put a rhubarb forcing pot over it, i can't remeber now?) Once its been harvested, like forced rhubarb, the plant would be discarded methinks.

If you're just interested in yeild, forget it, as it takes up a lot of space. It would be a nice plant in a flower garden

[Bal]

One way of growing soft fruit ornamentally which I have adopted is to grow gooseberries,white currants and red currants as standards or half standard within the beds. They add a bit of height and are above underlying veg and flowers.

I really like that idea How do you train these soft fruits to be standards?

[roitelet]

Take a cutting and let it grow until it reaches the height you want restricting it to a single stem as it goes. Let it grow another 6-12 inches and let the side shoots grow on that section and hey presto a standard. If you keep the fruiting spurs on the trunk you will get fruit all the way up.

[Noosner]

Sounds a wonderful idea, Maverick, and I echo folks' enthusiasm for the Globe Artichoke. It's a stunning plant, and if you leave a couple of the heads to open and go to seed, you get the most incredible huge mauve flower head that bees love.

I'd add purple mangetout - morgan and thompson do one called Shiraz.
And mizuna - lovely zigzag leaves.
Of the herbs I always think rosemary because it flowers for ages and is v attractive to pollinators. And sage, for it's lovely furry leaves.
Carrots, for their delicate feathery look.
Rhubarb gone to seed is very impressive - but it is big!

[Penellype]

Can't in all honesty recommend mangetout Shiraz. The purple flowers are quite pretty but the pods soon look unattractive and the flavour is very poor. Ordinary peas would be a much better idea, as the white flowers are just as attractive.

[Noosner]

Can't in all honesty recommend mangetout Shiraz. The purple flowers are quite pretty but the pods soon look unattractive and the flavour is very poor. Ordinary peas would be a much better idea, as the white flowers are just as attractive.

Really, Penellype? Oh dear. Haven't eaten any yet...