Arboretum integrates a medley of vegetables

LITTLE ROCK — A new exhibit that tickles your taste buds and makes you feel good all over is now part of the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington.

The new Ornamental Edibles display in the National Herb Garden demonstrates how home gardeners can incorporate tasty dinner-table vegetable plants into their year-round landscapes.

You can not only look at the plants but you are encouraged to smell, touch and taste them.

The exhibit is being used to promote more healthful eating and contribute to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s initiative encouraging Americans to eat food they produce.

Many vegetables make lovely landscape plants around your home and yard and in containers.

Ornamental edible plants have attractive foliage, texture and color that give them curb appeal while they are producing food, says Scott Aker, who leads the arboretum’s GardensUnit. Even small areas and container gardens can be used to grow attractive vegetables and fruits for home use. He cites basil, eggplant, Swiss chard, tomato and peppers as some of the most eye-catching types to plant.

Many fall vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, onions and collards look lovely when planted among colorful coolweather flowers like pansies and ornamental cabbages.

“Produce is much more than it used to be,” says Aker.

“What we eat has become an expression of who we are, just as gardens have long been an artistic vehicle for expressing ourselves.”

The arboretum’s exhibit features vegetables appropriate for the current season while also highlighting AgriculturalResearch Service research. It is the largest designed herb garden in the nation that includes annual, perennial and woody herbal plants; admission to the arboretum is free.

For more information about the arboretum, visit usna.usda.gov.