That’s where the garden grows. It’s also where many of us create our own personal escape or paradise. So let’s escape this economy and create an edible paradise.
In spite of the cost of living, it is still quite popular. Did you know three out of ten people planted gardens last year? Eight out of ten are gardening this year whether it be in the ground or in a container. Regardless of circumstances, we will plant. It’s what we do. So I have done a little research for validity and health/safety purposes: www.whatscookingamerica.net . Many plant varieties are edible and are not our run of the mill fruits and vegetables. So we overlook them and never even consider them for landscape. Citrus trees (standard) can grow into successful shade canopies or dwarf citrus can be nice corner additions or true dwarf can be gown even as multi trunk shrubs. Some varieties of citrus including the improved Meyers lemon have fruit on it year around and their blossoms are edible. A Bay tree provides shade. It is beautiful and everybody loves an occasional bay leaf in their spaghetti, stew or soups. Okay, if you are like my husband, Tommy, you may still just prefer Bay Watch!!! Blueberries are evergreen or deciduous depending on the variety and grow upwards 6-8 ft. tall and 4-6 ft. wide beautiful lush dark green shrubs with yummy fresh blueberries for free. If you do plant them, plant more than one variety and keep their immediate soil slightly acidic.
The pineapple quava is a beautiful specimen. It comes as a single-trunked tree or a multi-trunk large shrub. The leaves are beautiful, dark green on top and white underneath. The fruit is yummy and full of vitamins, great for full sun or partial shade. Now my favorite honorable mention goes to the artichoke. The bush can be grown up to 8 ft. high and 6 ft. or so wide. The plant is evergreen and the artichoke is actually the bud of the unopened flower. Many golf courses use artichoke plants as their landscape staples. Eating an artichoke is no different than eating a rose bud before it blooms. Broccoli also (i.e. broccoli florets) will bloom into beautiful vivid yellow flowers. Many veggies and annuals can be kept around simply by planting them as a shrub and protecting them from the frost during the frost! I had someone share recently he had a bell pepper plant for almost five years. Being creative with our vegetables at the time of planting has a lot to do with their success. Gardens do not necessarily need to be planted in hoed rows. Corn stalks actually look cool clumped in a barren corner with flowering daylilies at their feet and then flowering basil striped in the front and all are among the edible list. I will get to the list in a moment. Where you may plant a flower bed, mix in cilantro, snapdragons and society garlic with the purple flowers. They gently lend flavor with height and color! As long as plants/veggies are grouped according to their needs (sun, water, soil etc.) you create to your heart’s desire. Remember when inter-mixing your landscape allow room for maturity. This may leave some bare spots but that is ok. For instant gratification, $2.00 will get you a 6 pack of annuals to fill in while the plants mature or bloom. When veggies or plants of the same genus are all planted together, this creates concentrations of scent and soil criteria that draws insect infestations. So intermixing when planting goes against our age old “safety comes in numbers theory” however, we all understand “spread out”. Doing so undermines and confuses the insects’ senses and motivational beacon.
Here is a list of flowers among the edibles:
Alliums – flowering onions and garlic
Calendula – Marigolds – remove bitter white part of petal
Carnations – petals are sweet
Chrysanthemums – tangy
Chamomile – used for tea, soothing
Clover – sweet licorice flavor
Dandelions – yes the weed
Day lilies – slightly sweet
Englis Daisy – bitter, used for looks
Fuschia – acidic flavor, berries edible
Gladiolus – anthers removed, taste like lettuce
Hibiscus – cranberry citrus flavor
Honeysuckle – only flowers are edible
Impatiens – get bitter
Johnny Jump Ups – AKA pansies sweet to wintergreen
Lilac – lemony, perfumey
Nasturtiums – Spicy, nutty
Pansy – sweet
Piony – Chinese sweet tea
Primrose – sweet, bland
Roses – Flavor varies with type
Snap dragon – bland to bitter
Violets – sweet, use in desserts
These are just some you can commonly find in my Garden Nursery at the good ol’ neighborhood Antelope Home Depot. To stay on the safe side only eat the petals of the flowers I listed. Always remove stamens and pistils, don’t eat branches or stems (www.whatscookingamerica.net) is where I got the list. Be sure to use organic (safe) pesticides – such as organicide or Bonide (which I carry in the nursery). This can be used for insects and disease up until the day of harvest on everything from the Bay tree, rosebuds to the dandelions in the lawn. Hey at least the pain in the butt weeds are edible. Good luck everyone. Please let us know how you do. Pictures and stories are always welcome.
In His Loving Service
Your Plant Lady
P.S. Don’t eat Calla Lilies or you’ll be pushin’ up daisies.