I’ve been really inspired by the Grow Food not Lawns movement. The past few years I’ve been transitioning my massive perennial borders and front flower beds into mixed gardens, integrating my existing plants with vegetables, herbs, flowers and fruit. This combination can be beautiful and practical. Rhubarb, zucchini and most vegetables are so attractive and look great among the flowers and shrubs. Lots of flowers are edible and pretty… Bee balm, calendula, violets, nasturtiums, roses and lavender, to name just a few. Strawberries and creeping thyme are great ground covers and borders. Currant and blueberry bushes are easy to grow, attractive when they come into flower and even prettier when they set berries. Columnar fruit trees are another great option. Cabbage and kale are great fill ins. Lancinato kale has a lot of visual interest but it gets eaten up by little green worms here so I grow the Green Scottish Curled instead. Herbs offer so much in the way of flowers and color..echinacea, catnip, lemon balm, variegated mints, borage..The list goes on and this post is getting long. As the season progresses, all the little plants filling my tables under lights crowding the sunny windowsills will hopefully be big and strong and make their way into the gardens. Ideas are percolating for artful/ edible combinations and integrations. I’m hoping this gardening season is productive and beautiful for all of us!
Nice! What are those red flowers growing among your squash blossoms?
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Thanks! Those are nasturtiums:)
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What a wonderful garden you have Cynthia
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Thank you Derrick!!!
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absolutely beautiful.
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Thank you!
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You are masterful at planting edibles amongst ornamentals, Cynthia, so the visual appeal does not suffer from being useful. Bravo!
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Thank so much , Mary! Lots of trials and errors too:)
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A most beautiful and colourful garden Cynthia, what an inspiration for us all, growing vegetables among flowers and visa versa is a real winner of an idea, thank you.
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Thanks, Agnes! If only we had the time and wherewithal to try all the great ideas we see everywhere . There’s so many things I want to do!
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Likewise, and at a certain age you realise how fast the time is going 🙂 Enjoy!
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Yum!! Years and years ago – maybe more than 30 – I read a novel that predicted drought in California. In San Francisco, all the feminists (must have been the 70’s) got together and broke up the roads and lawns to plant veggies. Wish I could remember the title and author – I can’t – but I can see how very much ahead of her time that author was. And such an accurate prediction! Your approach to landscape reminded me of that. Good for you!!
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That sounds like a good book… Right up my alley, lol.
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Such a beautiful garden! It’s very inspiring to see the edibles and ornamentals all mixed together 🙂
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Thanks! Your last post is one of my favorites that I’ve ever read!
https://railwayparade.wordpress.com/2015/04/
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OOOOhhhhhh, have you ever seen peppermint or bright light swiss chard? They would beautiful with some of your gorgeous perennials! Very pretty garden 🙂
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I love the bright lights chard! 3 years in a row, I lost it when I transplanted it into the garden. I never saw the peppermint though. I will look it up. Maybe I would have better luck with that… Thanks so much!
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it looks so splendid!
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Thanks, Johanna!
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Lots of these flowers sure look familiar. Everything sure looks great 🙂
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Most everything is easy to grow… Not a lot of fancy stuff and lots of them are native plants. You probably see them a lot!
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We like easy and native 🙂
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Did not know you could eat bee balm! Mine is growing up so well – love it and love the scent of the leaves and flowers. How do you eat yours?
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All the aerial parts are edible. I tried cooking the leaves in a stir fry and I tried them raw but I didn’t like them. The petals are pretty in ice cubes or as a garnish but they don’t taste so great either.. To me anyway. Sometimes I steep the leaves as part of an herbal iced tea mix. What I really love about bee balm is how it attract hummingbird moths.. Those are so cool!
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What a lovely idea to mix veg among the flowers, we need a few fill ins so maybe a good route to go down! Thanks for sharing. Sharon x
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Thanks for coming by , Sharon!
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You take the loveliest photographs! Your gardens and home are just beautiful. Thank you for sharing!
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Thank you!
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