The garden is not just useful, but also lovely – is it possible? Let’s definitely say YES. We’re not only referring to tulips among salads or flowers you can eat (more on that later). Bright vegetables can be even more attractive than regular flowers! Allow your garden to appear more stunning so you won’t feel the need to keep it out of sight from your guests.
Because this is often true: gardens are concealed as much as they can be to keep the «display image» intact. After all, vibrant vegetables are great for meals, but also for decoration. How else do we explain that at the annual Chelsea Flower Show, in at least one of the gardens showcased, bright vegetables take center stage? With a bit of creativity, a simple vegetable garden can be changed into a lovely alternative to a flower garden.
The bright vegetables have their own care needs which are like traditional ones, except that when you plant them, not only is crop rotation key, but also the balance of different colors, shapes, and textures.
The offer is amazing
Thanks to the resurgence in the popularity of horticulture, breeders have finally turned their attention to colorful vegetables, and now we can choose from endless types and varieties, delicious and very decorative. Here are some highlights from recent years:
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how to plan your work wisely | First step: overview of available plants- chard – ‘Bright Lights’ (with yellow, orange petioles), ‘Ruby Red’ (with red petioles)
- Beetroot – ‘Bull’s Blood’ (dark leaf)
- mustard – «Red Feather» (heavily cut leaves, burgundy, spicy), «Yellow Feather» (cut leaves, yellowish)
- fennel – «Bronze» (openwork, brown foliage)
- beans – ‘Sunbright’ (yellow leaves, red flowers), ‘Crimson Flowered’ (grey leaves, red flowers)
- lettuce – «Australian Yellowleaf» (yellow), «Merlot» (bright burgundy), «Revolution» (almost black).
- kale – ‘Nero di Toscana’ (called ‘dinosaur food’ for the texture of its bluish leaves), ‘Redbor’ (a large variety with heavily curled purple leaves), ‘Piuma Rossa’ (heavily clipped leaves, turning from green to bright purple in autumn)
After looking at the abundance of seeds that have appeared in stores, it must be said: colorful vegetables are also becoming popular in Lithuania, there is a lot to choose from! True, if you get seriously infected with colorful plant viruses, you will probably have to send seeds from abroad.
Thus the colorful vegetables appear in all their beauty
Some general principles, how to creatively arrange colorful vegetables in a garden that wants to be beautiful:
Colorful vegetables will not spoil even the most elegant garden. Automatic photo – R. Laurinavičienė
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Tim Richardson: Garden designers will cure global warming- Division into rows of beds. There are no rules about the best shape, but traditionally beds are like geometric shapes: rectangles, squares or circles. In addition, it is more convenient to follow crop rotation: every year you can grow a different crop in the bed.
- Very popular raised beds – a real find for those who want a decorative and tidy garden.
- Bed dividers the tracks should be wide: it is recommended to make the central tracks at least 70 cm wide, so that a wheelbarrow can pass through them, and the smaller ones about 45 cm wide, so that it is possible to go around the beds freely from all sides.
- There are usually tracks between the beds they are full of gravel, crushed stone ar bark mulch.
- Beds are usually framed. It would be easier to frame the flowerbeds with low plants, such as serentia or lavender. You will also find plants suitable for edging beds among herbaceous perennials: these are rasakilas (Alchemilla), catnip (Nepeta), short bills (Geranium). It can also be used solid materials: impregnated wood or brick.
- To create an impression of space usage vertical structures – arches, obelisks. Beans or sweet peas can be grown on them. It’s also very beautiful shaped treesespecially if planted symmetrically throughout the garden.
- A colorful garden would be crowned a decorative element is placed in the center – a tree with a compact shape, an obelisk or a small pool of water, installed, for example, in a large vase.
Let’s not forget the rings
Even though at the beginning we said that this is not the case flowering plants – but what happens without them? They are especially relevant if you grow colorful vegetables in large containers in pots or containers. And believe me, annual flower compositions, decorated with another cabbage or lettuce seedling, look very luxurious and original.
Decorate a colorful garden flowering herbs. There are numerous plants whose flowers can be used for food:
- chives (a common plant in our gardens);
- nasturtiums (you should take a look at the miniature variety with blue leaves «Blue Pepe», bred by breeders as a front plant);
- borage (both leaves and flowers are edible);
- basil (although grown for its leaves, the flowers are quite decorative and edible);
- coriander (few people pay attention to the flowers, they are very beautiful, like white foam);
- begonias (the petals have a pleasant acidity).
It’s important: if you intend to use the food rings, never spray plants without chemicals>
The colorful vegetables will look playful when scattered among them flowering annualssome of them also help to kill pests of edible plants, for example, serentia, calendula.
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How to make branches bloom and which branches are suitable for thisAnd, anyway, those tulips wouldn’t mix with the salad at all. Maybe it won’t do much good, but it’s so beautiful!
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