Mixed Border Plants With Vegetables

Function

• Large plantings of one type of vegetable in a conventional raised bed garden are often susceptible to pests and disease due, in part, to the lack of diversity. In a mixed planting, the pests and diseases associated with one species are less likely to build to epidemic proportions, because the suitable hosts are fewer and more spread out. Plus, a mixed planting with flowering species provides habitat for a range of beneficial insects that can help keep those that attack your vegetables under control.

Composition

• Mix vegetables in a flower border as you would any other plant – think of pleasing color and texture combinations and lay out the planting based on the mature height and width of each species. Use varieties that have a compact growth habit and at least one aesthetic quality that can be highlighted in the design. Eggplant (Solanum melongena), with its stout, purple-tinged leaves and fruit, is a better choice than a huge, rangy tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum) that will smother everything around it and starts looking tattered halfway through the growing season.

Annual Borders

• Mix vegetables with annual bedding plants according to the seasons. In early spring and fall, use small vegetables like lettuce (Lactuca sativa), chard (Beta vulgaris), radicchio (Cichorium intybus) and other leafy vegetables that do well in cool weather. Mix them in with annual flowers like pansies (Viola spp.), stock (Matthiola spp.) and snapdragon (Antirrhinum). In summer, these can be replaced with heat lovers like basil (Ocimum spp.), eggplant and peppers (Capsicum spp.) to complement the classic summer annuals – cosmos (Cosmos spp.), marigolds (Tagetes spp.) and petunias (Petunias spp.) for example.

Perennial Borders

• There are not many perennial vegetables, but there are a few and they happen to have outstanding ornamental qualities. Asparagus (Asparagus officianalis) grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 2 to 8 and has wispy, fern-like foliage on stalks that rise 4 feet and decorative red berries on some varieties. Artichokes (Cynara scolymus) are actually the unopened flower buds of a giant thistle plant. They grow in USDA zones 6 through 9 and have dramatic grey foliage and purple flowers. Asparagus is best as a small patch rising behind low-growing perennials, and artichokes make a fantastic individual specimen or focal point in the border.