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Eight plants for an edible garden
Edible landscaping can include fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, and ornamental plants. Choose plants for the parts you’ll eat as well as their appearance, and start with a few that suit your tastes. University of Illinois Extension’s guide to edible landscapes offers that practical advice.
| Plant | Edible parts and use | What makes it ornamental | Garden fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nasturtium | Leaves, flowers, young buds, and seeds of many annual varieties; peppery, with immature pods sometimes pickled as a caper-like condiment. | Bright flowers and rounded foliage. | Beds, borders, containers, and hanging baskets; full sun is suitable. |
| Swiss chard | Young leaves raw; larger leaves cooked like spinach. | Large leaves and colorful stems. | Borders or containers; useful where foliage, rather than flowers, supplies the display. |
| Kale | Leaves from edible-purpose cultivars. | Colorful foliage for a cool-season display. | Seasonal beds and borders; select cultivars intended for eating. |
| Pansy or Viola | Flowers for salads, garnishes, and drinks; pansy flowers have an earthy-green taste. | Bright, showy flowers. | Flower beds and containers; use correctly identified plants grown under food-safe conditions. |
| Borage | Flowers as garnishes or in drinks and desserts; foliage has a cucumber-like flavor. | Star-shaped blue flowers and gray-green foliage. | Allow room for its form; wind can damage its brittle stems. |
| Calendula | Petals for garnish and color, with a saffron-like taste. | Bright flowers. | Flower beds and containers; use petals rather than expecting a strong seasoning flavor. |
| Rose | Petals in salads, desserts, or drinks; hips from some cultivars in teas and jellies. | Flowers and, on some plants, hips. | Shrub beds and borders; edible parts and hip qualities vary among roses. |
| Strawberry | Fruit. | Low-growing foliage and fruit. | Edible groundcover, bed edges, or containers. |
Planting calendars and hardiness depend on where you garden. Advice from Illinois Extension and the Royal Horticultural Society reflects different regional conditions, so use local guidance for timing rather than treating one region’s calendar as universal.
Flowers and leaves that do double duty
Nasturtium
Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) is a natural choice for a sunny border or container: its rounded leaves and bright flowers are attractive, and many annual varieties offer several edible parts. The taste is peppery; young seed pods are sometimes pickled for a caper-like condiment. Heat stress can make the flavor more pungent, and very rich soil may encourage leaves at the expense of flowers. See the University of Illinois Extension nasturtium guide and the Royal Horticultural Society’s guidance on growing annual nasturtiums and annual nasturtiums.
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- All of the flowers within this assortment are edible. Most are used to add coloring to boring salads. They can also be used as a garnish as well.
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Swiss chard
Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla) earns its place with foliage and stems: large leaves and colorful stems bring structure and color to a border or container. Young leaves can be eaten raw; larger ones can be cooked like spinach. Illinois Extension’s Swiss chard plant guide and the RHS chard-growing guide provide further cultivation advice.
Kale
Kale (Brassica oleracea, leafy cultivars) contributes colorful foliage to a cool-season display while producing edible leaves. Ornamental appearance alone does not guarantee eating quality: choose a cultivar intended for food. Illinois Extension notes that kale and chard can provide colorful foliage as well as food in its article on cool-season annuals.
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Pansy or Viola
Pansy and Viola flowers can bring color to salads, drinks, and garnishes. Pansies have an earthy-green taste, but the name on a display label is not enough to establish that a particular flower is safe to eat. Identify the plant and cultivar, and use flowers grown without unsuitable chemical treatments. Illinois Extension explains edible flowers and their uses in its edible-flower guide and flower-and-food guidance.
Borage
Borage (Borago officinalis) stands out for star-shaped blue flowers and gray-green foliage. The flowers can garnish food or be used in drinks and desserts; the foliage has a cucumber-like flavor. Its stems can be brittle in wind, and the hairy leaves may irritate some people’s skin during harvest. Handle it carefully and consult the University of Illinois Extension borage guide.
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Calendula
Calendula (Calendula officinalis) brings bright petals that are more useful for color than for a powerful flavor. Illinois Extension describes their taste as saffron-like, but that does not make calendula a substitute for saffron in flavor or value. Use the petals as a garnish, following the same plant-identification and chemical-safety precautions as for other edible flowers.
Flowers, fruit, and groundcover
Rose
Rose petals can be used in salads, desserts, or drinks; hips from some cultivars can be used in tea and jelly. Hips vary in size, color, and flavor across roses, so the presence of fruit does not promise a particular culinary result. Positively identify the plant and avoid florist roses or any rose treated with pesticides or pesticide-fertilizer mixes. For pesticide use on food crops, follow the label and any pre-harvest interval. See Illinois Extension’s guide to edible roses.
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Strawberry
Strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa and related cultivated strawberries) can serve as low-growing edible groundcover, making them useful along bed edges or in containers. Illinois Extension includes strawberries among plants that can help make a landscape edible. The best choice and planting timing depend on local conditions, so seek region-specific advice rather than assuming a particular variety or yield.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to eat garden flowers safely
“Edible flower” is not a blanket label for every flower, cultivar, or plant part. A flower’s edibility does not mean the leaves or seeds are edible, too. Use only correctly identified plants and parts, grown for food or under food-safe conditions.
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- Do not eat flowers from roadsides or plants that may have been exposed to unsuitable chemicals.
- Check pesticide labels for whether a product may be used on food crops and observe its pre-harvest interval.
- Do not eat florist roses; they may have received chemical treatments unsuitable for food.
- Handle borage carefully if its hairy foliage irritates your skin.
These precautions are especially important when a plant is grown primarily for its ornamental appearance rather than as a food crop.
Choosing what to plant first
Match plants to the space and the way you cook: nasturtium fits a sunny container and brings peppery leaves and flowers; chard and kale add edible foliage and color; pansy, borage, and calendula bring edible flowers; roses offer petals and, for some cultivars, hips; strawberries can occupy a low-growing edge. Begin with a manageable selection and favor plants whose edible parts you will use.
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