Have you ever considered planting vegetables for their flowers, and flowers for their flavor? Gardening author Rosalind Creasy has done just that. When
Grow It! host Jeff Cox visited Creasy at her San Jose, California, home, she was eager to share her landscape philosophy.
"I have been taking courses in landscape design," she says, "and I decided I could look at edible plants in exactly the same way as [instructors] did ornamental plants and say 'How can I use them in the landscape?' And I looked at them, and I saw--behold!--they are beautiful."
Almost all of the flowers and vegetables in her garden are annuals, so things get moved around quite a bit--as much as twice a year. Her garden is generally divided into three sections:
- Asian garden: Bamboo fencing and ornamental trees combine with Asian vegetables for a stunning effect. Here Creasy grows such unusual plants as baby turnips, mustard greens, totsoi, shingiku, coriander, gobo and peas (for their shoots and pods). The garden makes efficient use of the space available, and the harvest is used mostly for cooked dishes.
- Edible flower garden: "I would say 90 percent of the flowers here are edible," says Creasy. The petals of her 'Union Jack' tulips, for example, have a sweet, lettuce-like flavor and provide drama on hors d'ouevre trays when she entertains. While most flowers are used as a colorful garnish, some, such as arugula flowers and cilantro flowers, can add an herbal-y kick to salads, she says. (Note: Always use caution before eating any plant.)
- Italian greens: Along a converted parking strip, Creasy has planted two beds of Italian greens, many of them considered weeds. Among her favorites to grow are dandelions, escarole, arugula, kale, borage and stinging nettles.
Creasy relies heavily on beneficial bugs to help keep her edibles and blooming flowers healthy and pest-free. "Most people don't know that while you have your rows of veggies, you have to have flowers to attract beneficial insects because almost all of them, at one stage of their life cycle, need to have either pollen or nectar. If you don't have any flowers, they go away."
Guests Rosalind Creasy
Landscape Designer and Author
146 Lockhart Lane
Los Altos, CA 94022
Email:
roscreasy@worldnet.att.net
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