Putting Lettuce in the Tulips

Why do we hide edible plants in our gardens? Who says they aren’t beautiful? Many contemporary gardeners are welcoming the diversity of textures and colors that edible shrubs and trees give to their surroundings. 

There are also some practical reasons for mixing fruits and vegetables with ornamental plants. Flowering plants attract pollinating and beneficial insects. So interspersing food crops among plants such as lavender, butterfly bush and clematis that draw bees and butterflies can mean a larger harvest.   

Growing fruits and vegetables that are not available at your grocery store is an easy way to stretch your food budget while adding variety to your menu. And you don’t need a big garden to make this happen. The Napa County Master Gardener Garden Tour on Sunday, May 15, features a wonderful small cottage garden with edible plants growing street side among ornamentals. Salad makings such as spinach and pansies are tucked into the colorful landscape. Fig trees provide shade as well as a late summer harvest.

Tuck a couple of fruit trees into your yard; a dwarf fruit tree is an excellent focal point. Asparagus plants can create a lovely feathery divider after harvest. Grapevines can cover an arbor as easily as roses. A low hedge of blueberry bushes provides spring flowers and fall color along with the nutritious fruit. Strawberries, thyme and oregano all make excellent ground covers. Creating a salad border along the edges of raised beds with lettuces, chives (their pale purple blossoms are tasty, too), green onions, pansies and parsley. Put taller plants such as dill, fennel, peas, corn and beans in the back of beds or center them in containers. 

Marion Owen, co-author of “Chicken Soup for the Gardener’s Soul,” suggests several appealing plant combinations, including curly parsley with yellow pansies; red leaf lettuce with yellow and orange calendulas; red chard and New Zealand spinach; dwarf curly kale with dusty miller, aromatic pink nemesia, and dianthus; oregano with red chard and trailing white lobelia; or parsley and strawberries with trailing blue lobelia.

Consider your site carefully because most edible plants require at least six hours of sun each day. However, leafy salad greens with a short growing season do well in shady conditions. In areas of your garden that are hard to water, plant drought-tolerant herbs such as rosemary. The hardy bush form has pretty blue blossoms.

Evaluate the ornamental features of the edibles you’re considering. What color are the fruits, flowers and foliage? Think about shapes, too. Is the plant tall and spiky, round and full, or cascading? Use edibles as visual complements in your garden. For example, a green border might benefit from the bright color of peppers. Globe artichoke plants have a striking architectural form and such gorgeous purple flowers that it’s hard to decide whether to eat the artichokes or let them bloom. Garlic, onions and sunflowers all have showy tops, too. 

Don’t forget containers. How about a pot of cherry tomatoes, geraniums and basil? Lettuce and tulips are a classic spring combination. For beauty and utility, edibles are welcome additions to the ornamental garden.

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