Kitchen Garden Forum

strawberries with small bulbs, tulips iris etc
climbing beans with sweet peas
squash on a lattice frame with climbing nasturtium or morning glory
cordon fruit arch with clematis
tomatoes with pot marigold, edged with bush basil


These are my thoughts so far... any more ideas /suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Autumn treasure raspberry hedge...with ?
red lettuce with ?
ruby / golden chard with?
I would like to grow borage for the bees as it kept them busy for ages in fact it's still flowering, but in my soil three plants grew huge this year about 4ft tall, thick multi stemmed, and so heavy it brought other plants down. Wondering what might be strong enough to combine it with or how to support it better ?

Borage is a bit of a beast, but Phacelia tenacetifolia is just as good a bee attractant, looks lovely and has ferny foliage. I sow it or let it seed around the veg garden - I haven't the heart to chop it down to use as a green manure, but you get much more seed for your money if you buy the ones sold for green manure. I did let some borage grow among the sweetcorn along with a few dwarf sunflowers and they all seemed to get along OK. not that they were particularly beneficial to one another, but I did get a very good crop of sweetcorn so there were no ill effects.

The poached egg plants look pretty as an edging, and I always have plenty of Alyssum for its gorgeous honey scent, and they are both excellent insect attractants.

Redbor is a very good coloured kale with nice frilly leaves and is more tender and a better flavour than other purple ones. It looks good with Bleu Solaise leeks and the yellow leaved one Jaune de Poitou from Real Seeds. Real seeds also sell a very good yellow leaved lettuce - Grandpa Admire's Australian looseleaf I think.

I've just come back from holiday in Estonia and noticed they used curly leaved parsley in some of their municipal flower displays. The texture and fresh green contrasted very well with the flowers.

I use most of the other combinations you mention and the marigolds and nasturtiums usually self seed all over anyway. I also usually try to work some Crimson flowered broad beans in to my colour scheme too earlier in the year. If you like something more geometric Kalibos cabbages make amazing huge pointed vivid shiny purple heads which look good with a bright green frilly kale, or you could have a clash with Bright lights chard.

Some great suggestions there, thank you very much Plumpudding.