Planting this year - possible to go entirely edible but still pretty?

Cucumber and zucchinis have nice spreading and climbing habit, are very productive.

Almost our entire garden is some sort of container / contained space (ie a raised bed)

We have most things in a variety of pots & hanging baskets. A real mix of flowers + herbs, veggies, and fruit bushes.

So you don’t just gotta go all veggies, you can still have different containers, and feature both.

Strawberries in hanging pots with their runners are particularly pretty. As can be Cucumbers with their yellow flowers run up a trellis, fence or wall.

I think Cherry Tomato Plants ... and Mini or Hot Peppers ... with their pops of red are festive (and the colour show continuous)

Herbs can be grown pretty much any where ... yes some do well in shade ... but many can be tucked into pots with other herbs ... or even flowers.

Just make note of their requirements ... sun / soil / water ... WHO they should not be planted with ... and most importantly their spreadability ... some are quite invasive and will choke out anything else in a pot with them

Rainbow chard https://www.thespruceeats.com/all-about ... rd-2216051

Anything edible is pretty, in my book.
Faves are scarlet runner beans (climber), rainbow chard, peas, beans, beets, corn, carrots, sunflowers, and kohlrabi for a garden.
For hanging baskets, strawberries, tumbler tomato, climbing peas and herbs.

But then, beauty is in the eye of the beholder......

Nasturtiums.

Where are the tomato plants...? I cannot find them in the GTA area. If anyone has recently seen any, please give a shout! TIA.

Scarlet runner beans are an excellent choice (I just wish I knew how to cook them!)

Winter squash can be trained to grow along a fence and can also be grown in containers.

Grapes can be grown fairly easily, although you’ll need a fence or a trellis and it will take you 2-3 years before you’ll see any yields.

A couple nice perennial pollinator magnets will help the production of your veggie crops, wouldn't hurt to toss a couple in.

CaptSmethwick wrote: ↑ Nasturtiums.

Nasturtium flowers are great in a salad. Colourful, and have a nice flavour.

junkmail2002 wrote: ↑ Thinking that under the circumstances it may be best to plant fruits/veggies instead of usual flowers.

I've always had a decent tomato garden and some other veggies but what's a good way to replace flower baskets and other plants with practical and edible choices?

- Beans have nice flowers and are great climbers.
- Strawberries and tomatoes can grow nicely in hanging baskets
- Herbs can take place of other greens in shaded areas

Any other ideas that look great and taste great?

Went to Madison, WI for a vacation of sorts, and in front of their main city building, they have giant planters that are actually gardens. They look like decor, but it's all edible (from what I could tell). They have a real bad homeless problem there (at least, when I was there, summer of last year), so I presume many of those people eat the plants? I did notice some harvesting.

https://www.communitygroundworks.org/wh ... ble-garden

It looked better than that when I was there.

Peas have pea flowers, which are some of the nicest flowers around. Strawberries flower all summer long. Chives have nice purple flowers as well (grow onion chives, not garlic chives as garlic chives are hard to control). Plenty of other flowering plants have edible parts as well - dandelions provide greens and flowers are edible (grow with care, as all know they take over), angelica can eat flowers and greens, arugula flowers and greens can be eaten (leaves are better if eaten before flowering), basil blooms as does thyme, rosemary can be quite stylish foliage and does flower, wax begonias have edible flowers, Bee balm flowers and leaves are edible (and minty), chamomile is a popular tea, cilantro flowers nicely, clover flowers are edible, day lily petals are edible, dill flowers, garlic flowers, honeysuckle flowers, impatiens flowers, lavender flowers, lots of different mints (careful - mint is an aggressive spreader), pansies, rose petals, sage, sunflowers... you've got a lot of options!

Most food plants are also flowering plants, and while you don't always want them to flower (garlic for example has better bulbs if you cut the flowers off early), you can basically let them all flower and eat the flowers and/or the whole plant. Herb gardens can be very attractive.