Lauren Alex O’ Hagan, Cardiff University
02.08.2023 - 14:21 / theenglishgarden.co.uk / Niamh Collins
There’s nothing better than growing your own organic vegetables, freshly harvested and available to eat that day. However, here at Garden Organic’s demonstration garden we also want to grow produce that’s attractive and encourages pollinators and beneficial insects.
These are a staple in our vegetable garden. They come in a variety of colours: red, white or bicoloured are the most common, and come in climbing and dwarf varieties. The climbing varieties provide great vertical interest as well as pretty pea flowers, which are attractive to pollinators. One of the prettiest varieties we have here is ‘Sunset’, a heritage seed variety, which produces truly unique peach blooms followed by shiny black beans. High germination rate for an heirloom seed, good for freezing, canning and drying.
Runners are easy to raise from seed and produce an abundance of pods from mid-summer to early autumn. Grow in full sun, in rich soil with plenty of organic material and water – particularly when they’re setting their pods.
This is a very colourful and attractive leafy vegetable with stalks in an array of colours. It’s particularly good in a hot border with its bright orange, red or yellow stems. At Garden Organic we prefer rainbow chard for interest, but Arancia is a lovely combination of green and yellow. They’re very easy to grow and robust, standing well and not bolting even in dry weather. In addition they harvest over a long period and a second sowing in mid-summer will stand throughout the winter. Ideal steamed or used in stir-fry.
These are quite expensive to buy in the supermarket but actually easy to grow and therefore very cost effective. We grow them in our perennial vegetable bed, but they wouldn’t be out of place in your ornamental
Lauren Alex O’ Hagan, Cardiff University
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