Am I nuts?

I got in my head this year I wanted to have a pretty veggie garden. Well not really a garden I will still have my veggie garden but this garden as an ornamental, edible garden. I thought I would have runner beans, scarlet, sunset, and painted lady growing up cages or trellis more so for the blooms. Chard- 5 color silverbeet, japicona zea maize, asparagus pea, fish pepper, green grape tomato, green heart and rose radish and some other odd and end things. I don't know how it will all turn out but sure looks good in my head. lol

Well, I thought about answering your first question in the affirmative, even before I read the context (just kidding!!!! ;0)

Seriously, our library carries some wonderful books that capture truly beautiful vegetable gardens (Beautiful American Vegetable Gardens by Mary Tonetti Dorra, for one - I'm pretty sure I've dogeared most of the pages in it! Another is Creative Vegetable Gardening by Joy Larkom; as luck would have it, here's a webpage that has these two books, plus one other listed: http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Jungle/6700/plants/design.html)

Most of the truly attractive gardens I've seen are laid out in quasi-formal beds (a la the square foot method, or some variation on that theme), with mulched paths in between. You can plant marigolds, borage and other herbs around the edges of each bed to further emphasize the aesthetic appeal. And take pictures - we wanna drool over 'em next winter!!!

Here are some other pictures:
http://gardengal.net/page107.html
http://www.sunset.com/sunset/Premium/Garden/2002/04-Apr/VegGardens0402/VegGardens0402.html
http://www.hsvbg.org/demoveg.htm
Checkout this book cover: http://www.warwickgp.com/publishing/titles/ornamental.htm
Monticello, the grandaddy of all bee-yoo-tee-ful gardens: http://www.monticello.org/grounds/veg_home.html

Some how-to's: http://www.sunnyfield.com/aboutthegarden/990324.htm

This message was edited Friday, Jan 10th 11:50 PM

Well I don't know if I should be offened by that first statement or not. lol Wow you came up with those links fast I get the idea you been toying with this idea too.Those are great links but I will never have anything so grand. Thats kinda what I had in mind at first I thought I would just have a bed, then the more I think about it I think I want to intermix the plants in my flower beds. Is anybody else doing this or have any suggestions?

Just remember it takes a nut to know a nut (I think.) And yes, I've been struggling to beautify my veggie garden for two years; this year I think I'm ready to go at it full-force.
Love ya!
Terry

Don't forget to add the eggplants, mystic. One of my faves in the "edible landscaping" scenario...beautiful flowers, followed by colorful fruit of all shapes and sizes! And they handle the heat really well, and tend to produce till frost. Love em! (Especially when the grill is fired up and a few pickin's have been marinated in olive oil, garlic, a pinch of black pepper!)

Oooh, Shoe is right. I am trying 'Lavender Touch' this year - if the description is accurate, they are gorgeous and mild (might even persuade my family to LIKE eggplant, lolol.)

I never even thought about eggplant. Great idea! I better check into that and see what I can come up with.Thanks for all the help.

What about okra---showy, hibiscus-like flowers, and the pods are really decorative as well.

Oh, another good one! I found a new one this year (yes, it's a hybrid), with burgundy stems and pods, and creamy yellow flowers, and is a dwarf. Woohoo!

Brook, you beat me to it!!! I was going to suggest okra. Even if there are doubters whether it is a food *giggle* it is sure beautiful.

I have inter-planted certain veggies in my perennial and mixed borders for years; bok-choi is very effective where you want a coarse-plant in the spring and autumn. Hot peppers and some of the mini-sweet peppers also are so pretty to look at, and many of the varieties taste good (unlike some of the "ornamental" peppers). Certain lettuces, 'Red Sails' and 'Red Deer Tongue' are also very effective where you want a little leaf color.

Then of course the latest edible plant, cardoon! Wow!

Okra, I am drooling, I wish I wish I could. I just can't grow it here and get it to produce.

Awww, Lenjo - we'll send you a big ole package of just-picked okra in August, okay? (I never thought I'd pity someone who lives in Oregon, where the weather is MUCH milder than here, lolol!)

Ok you all twisted my arm I knew there was a reason I hadn't sent my park seeds order yet. I added The 'Patio Mohican hybrid' eggplant ) Terry it was a toss up with it and the 'Lavender Touch') This one won because it said could be grown in pots if I run out of room. lol For the okra I decided on Little Lucy which sounds like the one you are talking about Terry. Lupine I already had the lettuce down I went with Pinetree's lettuce mix it has a variety of colors in it. Lenjo as for the okra I don't know how it will do here this will be a new veggie for me I have never grown it. Shoe is there another eggplant you would recommend and Brook what about orka is there one you had in mind that would work better?

Last year I grew Pink Machiaw eggplant (very long lavender fruit), and some white eggplant called Casper (both available at Johnny's I believe). Mixed in with those I grew several nice colorful peppers (Corno de Toro and Giant Aconcagua).
And don't forget, once some of your lettuces begin to bolt, let them! In this pic you can see how tall Red Sails (tall reddish-purple spires in the center of pic) and Cos Romaine (to the right of Red Sails) get! And they retained that height and beauty all summer long! And as an extra benefit, the seeds I didn't collect I let them fall to the ground and they sprouted up for a fall harvest (still have some of them out there growing!). (Properly placed in a nice flower bed, instead of in front of a gravel pile, would really add something to the landscaping!)

And of course don't forget Bright Lights Swiss Chard...beeyutiful and tasty!
(And as for okra, I like to grow a hand-me-down heirloom we named "Betty's White", altho it's actually a light green in color; and also a hybrid called "Long Green Pod", which produces really well, and the pods can get long but yet remain slender and tender.)

Mystic, my answer to the original question would have been, aren't we all!

I've been working my vegetable garden into the flower beds for a couple of years now. I use carrots as edging accents - all that lovely ruffly green foliage, and cucumbers as a ground cover on the slopy side. Peas rambled around last year, but I fully intend that they should behave themselves this year. I hope to have pole beans, and I have red okra and red celery to put in as background. I grew okra once a long time ago. I'm too "northern" to know what to do with it once it's ready to pick other than to put in soup, but it is very pretty. Celery grows well here and like Shoe's bolted lettuce adds some nice height. I also let my lettuce go and I've had the same experience with rapid self seeding. I've had alpine strawberries as edging around one of the rock beds since we put it in.

I think that gardens should have everything you want in them, and nuts are nice too! I'm going to put some cranberry bushes in somewhere this year - I keep changing my mind. They will also be a ground cover. The herbs are everywhere, some by my choice, some by thier choice. I'm not sure who's in control of this garden! Oh, wait, the answer to that would be NO ONE!