Artichoke

Perennial vegetables and herbs for your garden

Personally, I am not a big vegetable gardener. I actually have a hard time growing zucchini. Now, don't laugh at me! If you are like me and love perennial plants then here is a list of great plants for you. All of these can be “inserted” into your landscape and look beautiful.

Perennial Vegetables

• Artichokes - Light afternoon shade in our hot valley. When I was growing up artichokes lined our driveway. I have artichokes in my garden now. Gophers can be a problem.
• Asparagus - The plants are tall, feathery and graceful. You will not get a lot of asparagus but the plant is beautiful!
• Cardoon - Similar to artichokes but grown for the edible stalks. This is also great in the landscape.
  
• Rhubarb - Needs partial shade in the valley. Great showy foliage for the garden.

Perennial Herbs

• Chives - Snip the leaves to use in the kitchen. Beautiful leaves and flowers. Great border plant.
• Lavender - Beautiful and very fragrant. Attracts bees to the garden. I have lavender in my garden and love it.
• Lemongrass - It will grow to about 3 feet wide and 3 feet tall. It looks like a tall clump of grass. Cut off the stem just above the crown and use in recipes. Yes, I have this in my yard and it is beautiful.
• Marjoram - 1-2 feet tall, great filler plant or ground cover for your landscape. Snip off a few leaves for cooking.
• Mint - Plants easily spread. Once you have mint you have mint forever. It is very fragrant.
• Oregano - Low growing ground cover plant. I have this one in a container and it produces a carpet of beautiful flowers.
• Rosemary - Who doesn't have rosemary in their garden? Great foundation plant, beautiful flowers and easy to
  
  use in recipes. Yes, I have a beautiful rosemary plant in my yard.
• Sage - Needs afternoon shade. Great gray color for the garden. I have sage and it can get a little scraggly, just keep it trimmed back.
• Sweet Bay - Can be a tree or shrub. Grows to 12 – 20 feet tall. Beautiful flowers. We had a bay tree growing up. Snip a leaf and throw in a soup.
• Tarragon - Needs light shade. French tarragon has rhizomes. It is best in a container.
• Thyme - Small plant with heavily scented leaves. Great in a rock garden.

Our next post will be about berries, vines and fruit trees.