Edimentals: What Are They? And Which Are Best for Your Garden?

Malde likes to allow this root vegetable to bolt and grow into plants in the garden, and he even included some in his Chelsea Flower Show garden this year. “Parsnips grow very upright and tall, looking statuesque. On top of the tall stems you get the most beautiful yellow umbellifers,” says Malde. His advice is to position them in groups of three, five or seven, through your planting scheme. (See Gardening 101: Parsnip.)

Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella damascene ‘Miss Jekyll’)

This is an annual that needs to be grown from seed every year, but Malde says it is well worth the effort. “Love-in-a-Mist has delicate, wispy looking foliage, and the upright stems produce beautiful sky-blue flowers—and there are other varieties that bloom in white and pinks.” The plant also produces unusual, whimsical seed pods that provide interest after the blossoms fade—and edible seeds, also known as black sesame, black cumin, or onion seeds, which have a smokey taste reminiscent of the flavors its alternate names suggest.

‘Scarlet Sentinel’ Apple (Malus domestica)

“This is one of our favorite backyard apple trees because it stays in a lovely columnar shape as well as grows delicious sweet-tart apples,” says Lonna Lopez, a garden designer at Pine House Edible Gardens, a firm located in the Bay Area. “It can be used in a formal design, especially with a second one, which you’ll need for pollination. It also looks great in more casual garden designs where it can be used in a group or as a stand alone specimen.” Columnar apples like Scarlet Sentinel produce fruit on spurs along the main stem. With their narrow, upright shape and maximum height of about ten feet, they’re ideal for small spaces, including city gardens—they can even be grown in a container. Lopez recommends planting your Scarlet Sentinel with a Golden Sentinel for pollination and a variety of apples.

Banana plant ‘Ice Cream’ (Musa acuminata ‘Blue Java’)

“Ice Cream banana is our favorite edible banana to grow in the Bay Area. Not only is the large leaf shape helpful in the garden design to break up finer textures, the Ice Cream banana is very productive and delicious,” says Lopez. Note that this plant prefers mild weather and will grow in zones 9 or 10.

For more ornamental edibles, see:

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