Ornamental Vegetables
Vegetables aren’t just good to eat, some of them can spice up your landscape as well.
Many leafy vegetables have colorful foliage. ‘Bright Lights’ Swiss chard and purple cabbage can make colorful additions to your garden during the winter months. Bronze fennel, ‘Red Giant’ mustards, and several kinds of lettuce are also lovely (not to mention tasty). For interest and great flavor, try dinosaur or Tuscan kale with its knobby leaves.
Other plants have attractive or unusual fruit, like Romanesco broccoli plants, which have bizarre, geometric heads.
Keep them well watered and fertilized, and in a sunny location. Most of these plants should be planted in the cool season, but In warmer months, you can plant peppers, Chinese red beans, and colorful basils.
UF/IFAS Publications
- Brassica oleracea Flowering Kale, Ornamental Cabbage
- Brassica oleracea ‘White Peacock’ White Peacock Flowering Kale
- Eggplant, White — Solanum ovigerum Dun. and Solanum melongena var. esculentum (L.) Nees.
Also on Gardening Solutions
- Add a Thrilling Porch Planter for Fall
- Basil
- Cabbage
- Cardoon
- Kale
- Ornamental Gourds
- Ornamental Peppers
- Peppers
- Swiss Chard