Feasts for the eye: Vegetables gardens can be beautiful as well as productive - Garden Outdoor Living

Sunset, April, 2002 by Lauren Bonar Swezey, Jim McCausland, Sharon Cohoon

* Plan for seasonal change. Consider the seasons so you can shift from cool- to warm-season plants and back again "like a seasonal migration," advises Freeland Tanner. When one crop is harvested, have something ready to plug in the hole.

* Frame the space. Surround the perimeter of the bed or garden with edging or a fence.

Growing tips

* Exposure. Some vegetables (tomatoes and peppers, for instance) need six to eight hours of midday sun for best production and flavor. Slightly shadier areas can be reserved for plants like arugula, beets, kale, and lettuce that grow well with a little less light.

* Air circulation. To reduce the possibility of diseases, provide plenty of air circulation.

* Soil. Most vegetables prefer well-drained soil enriched with plenty of organic compost. If your garden soil is heavy and poorly drained, plant in raised beds.

* Irrigation. All crops need water to get established, but some need more than others as they mature. Plant tomatoes in an area where you can cut back on water as the fruit starts to ripen. Greens, on the other hand, need constantly moist soil.

* Fertilizer. Use fish emulsion alone or in combination with a kelp-type fertilizer such as Maxicrop. Corn plants, which are heavy feeders, benefit from a side-dressing of dry organic fertilizer during the season.

Favorite colored plants

Check catalogs and nurseries for examples of the colored fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers listed below.

Blue gray: Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Red or White Russian kale, 'Silver Shield' sorrel.

Bronze: Bronze fennel, 'Revolution' lettuce.

Orange: Beets, calendula, carrots, eggplant, marigolds, nasturtiums, peppers, pumpkins, Swiss chard, tomatoes.

Purple: Basil, beans, beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, eggplant, lettuce, ornamental alliums, peppers, perilla (shiso), scarlet runner beans, sweet alyssum, tomatoes, violas.

Red: Apples, beets, eggplant, 'Giant Red' mustard, lettuce, peppers, sunflowers, Swiss chard, tomatoes.

Silver: Artichoke, curry plant (Helichrysum italicum), dianthus, dwarf garden sage, santolina, sea kale (Crambe maritima).

Variegated foliage: Comfrey, raspberries, sage, salad burnet, strawberries, 'Sweet Dumpling' winter squash, thyme, variegated watercress, 'White Anniversary' oregano.

Yellow/lime: Apples, beans, calendula, golden feverfew, golden hops, golden lemon balm (Melissa officinalis 'Aurea'), golden oregano, lettuce, lime thyme, marigolds, peppers, sunflowers, Swiss chard, tomatoes, violas, zucchini.