As springtime rolls in, you might be ready to spruce up the yard, drag out the lawnmower and maybe plant some flowers to brighten the season. While pretty, even a flower garden can do more than just look pretty. There are a number of edible plants that you can add to the rotation that will spice up your favorite springtime dishes as well.
Looking for ground cover? Mint is delicious muddled into a refreshing beverage or incorporated into a savory dish. The plant itself makes excellent ground cover and it’s pretty low maintenance even if you don’t have the greenest of green thumbs. Be careful, though. Mint will take up a mile if you give it an inch so it doesn’t really play well with others. Oregano and marjoram are resilient herbs that will spread on their own and are common kitchen staples. Sorrel, also edible, provides excellent cover for plants that might be closer to the ground. While you might be familiar with rosemary as the bush-like plant that can grow into a monster-sized shrub, there’s also a trailing or creeping version that will spread out and cover quite a bit of ground while staying pretty low.
Looking for plants to form an edible hedge instead? We’ve already mentioned rosemary. This very tasty herb can get quite large so make sure you give it some room to spread. Many of our favorite berries can serve as a great privacy hedge and some provide us with fresh berries in season as well! Blueberries, blackberries, and elderberries can all be cultivated into a fruit-bearing barrier. Cherry plums and damsons can also serve as a hedge with rewards.
Maybe you are just looking for some pretty plants with bonus features. Lavender sports tiny, purple flowers that will brighten any landscape. Red Orach is a vibrant purple-leafed plant that can serve as an excellent accent plant but is also a part of the spinach family. Amaranth is a pretty plant with a number of options for snacking. The leaves can be used in salad and cooked as well. The flowers are dramatic, large bunches coming in pinks, purples, red and gold. If you want to feed the local hummingbird population naturally, honeysuckles are also a very pretty choice. The plant itself might not be as flashy as the others, but it attracted a wide variety of showing guests.
Farmers’ markets and established local nurseries are a great place to learn about which plants will do the best in your growing zone. You are also more likely to find someone who can talk to you with some experience about which plants will grow well together. We are experiencing strains on our food supply and our climate stability is breaking down. Growing some food of your own with the same resources you might spend on annual flowers is an excellent small change to increase your personal self-sufficiency. It’s also fun! Share your favorite plants to grow below!
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