Brassicaceae
But you should not wait for the flowering of vegetable plants from the Brassicaceae family (radish, turnip, daikon, mustard, cabbage). Firstly, the inflorescences consisting of four-petalled yellow flowers are not too decorative, and secondly, the taste and appearance of the “bloomed” vegetable will be hopelessly spoiled, even if we are talking about the blossoming buds of broccoli, cauliflower or romanesco.
However, these varieties, even in dense green, white, orange or purple buds inflorescences wrapped with dark green glossy leaves, look very decorative and deserve to become one of the ornaments of a blooming vegetable garden. As well as rosettes of ordinary cabbage (especially its red varieties), as well as Savoy cabbage. If such plantings have a view from above (for example, from the window of the second floor of the house), it seems that huge roses are lying on the ground.
But, as you know, there are no rules without exceptions. For example, the monumental plant Crambe tataria (also from the Brassicaceae family) is sometimes grown exclusively as an ornamental plant with powerful beautiful leaves and a lush cloud of white fragrant inflorescences. And although Crambe (varieties ‘Accord’, ‘Picadrome’) is a close relative of bitter horseradish (in the garden it is planted precisely for smooth large roots with characteristic sharp taste and smell), the aroma of its flowers is very pleasant — sweet and honey. In addition, unlike horseradish, it does not scatter over the site, but grows in a smooth large bed. Of course, such a plant should solo. Like the familiar rhubarb with beautiful leaves on bright petioles, blooming in early summer with lush panicles.
Soloists and backstage: artichokes and asparagus
Another artichoke soloist looks very impressive in the garden, but for northern latitudes this is not a very convenient culture, since the capricious “handsome” is not able to survive the harsh winters. Therefore, we will leave it to the Southerners. And we ourselves will pay attention to asparagus — an unpretentious perennial delicacy plant. Shoots that will not be cut in the spring for the table will grow in the summer and bloom with green fluffy “Christmas trees”.
Asparagus flowers — tiny bells that you can’t even see from afar — look absolutely charming, especially when the whole plant is standing in dew or sparkling in the sun in raindrops. In addition, a few asparagus bushes are also a wonderful background and a wonderful camouflage stage for spectacular soloists and heroes.
Blooming wall: sunflower and Jerusalem artichoke
Sun—like sunflowers are long-standing adornments of vegetable gardens, wattles, and village gardens. Those who are bored of planting these annual plants every year can replace them with Jerusalem artichoke. This once fashionable, and then forgotten plant is remarkable not only for its delicious root crops, but also for the yellow inflorescences that appear in autumn and vaguely resemble rudbeckia flowers.
A thick flowering wall, which served as a backstage for heat-loving plants during the summer, noticeably enlivens the almost deserted vegetable garden at this time of year.
Spectacular vertical: beans and peas
If we talk about vertical plantings, then, of course, it is impossible not to remember the beans. Today, there are many varieties on sale not only with monochrome pods and beans, but also with flowers — white, lilac, red.
A remarkable property of this culture is continuous flowering, simultaneous with fruiting. Therefore, pyramids or trellises with spectacular leaves, clusters of pods and flowers can decorate the garden almost until the first frost.
Sweet pea shoots, of course, are not so durable, but the flowers, similar to moths, are still very cute. Moreover, it is now possible to plant varieties of peas with purple pods and flowers of the same shades. They will decorate the garden no worse than decorative sweet peas, even if only for a short time.
We see at the root: Scorzonera and Tragopogon
Scorzonera hispanica and Tragopogon porrifolius cannot be called novelties, but for some reason they are not too popular in our vegetable gardens, although they are quite unpretentious, and young leaves and roots are tasty and useful (have medicinal properties). These two-year-olds winter well in the middle zone, blooming in the second year, and spread by self-seeding. Of course, if you let them. Both medicinal plants belong to the Asteraceae family, so they bloom quite nicely. The first — yellow slightly disheveled inflorescences, the second — lilac or yellow elegant stars.
Important: each flower of Tragopogon porrifolius opens only for one day, but there are a lot of them on a high peduncle, so flowering lasts for quite a long time.
The fading flowers look like huge fluffy dandelions, if they are cut off in time (without letting them fly apart) and properly dried, then they may well become a decoration for dry bouquets.
And many others
The theme of a blooming vegetable garden is endless. You can talk about flowers that repel harmful insects and even animals, and these are not only marigolds and calendula, but also, for example, Ruta and Cynoglossum officinale. About medicinal herbs that are appropriate in the garden. About ornamental vegetable plants (quinoa, amaranth, perilla) and numerous flowering siderates (phacelia, annual lupines, buckwheat), not only revitalizing the soil, but also attracting pollinators to the garden. In a word, the immensity of possibilities allows everyone to create and decorate the garden according to their own taste and enjoy not only the harvest, but also the beautiful corners.
Recently, new unusual varieties of vegetables have begun to appear on sale, for example, Glebionis coronaria.
This plant has edible delicate carved leaves and petals of pretty flowers — white and yellow daisies.
This annual blooms for a long time, until autumn, and is able not only to give a special taste to salads, but also to decorate them. However, the beds and flower beds in the natural style – too.
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