Edible plants are no longer reserved for just veg patches and allotments
We all want our gardens to look beautiful, smell glorious and feel full of life — but what if some of the prettiest plants in your borders could also end up on your plate?
Edible plants have been grown alongside flowers since medieval times, and now this centuries-old tradition is making a comeback. Known as ‘edimentals’ — a term coined by horticulturalist Stephen Barstow — these plants are both edible and ornamental, combining the beauty of flowers with the practicality of home-grown food.
From colourful blooms to fragrant leaves and striking foliage, edimentals prove that growing your own doesn’t have to mean sacrificing style.
Sir Tim Smit, co-founder of Cornwall's pioneering Eden Project, is one of the leading advocates for a more naturalistic approach to gardening. To mark Eden's 25th anniversary, the charity created the Bring Me Sunshine Garden for this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show, designed to offer hope to young people feeling uncertain about the future while showcasing nature's resourcefulness through sustainable materials and inventive food-growing methods, including the use of edimentals.
To get us in the mood, Sir Tim shares some of his current favourites:
'I love this plant because it just looks so spectacular,' says Tim. 'They can grow up to 5ft, so they give you this glorious height in the garden and then produce these large green buds which look like globes covered in scales and spikes.'
This hardy perennial is a member of the thistle family and likes full sun. It can be grown directly into the ground in early spring, and from the second year on, it will give you about 10 globes per plant.
The purple-budded varieties, such as Purple Globe, give extra colour. 'You can roast them or sauté them,' says Tim. 'The globes are even delicious just steamed and eaten, scale by scale, with seasoning, lemon and olive oil. Home produce doesn't get any better than that!'
'These jazzy orange flowers have been grown and revered for centuries,' says Tim. 'Their healing properties have been well-documented, but you've only got to take one look at them, and they will cheer you up. It's also become very popular with chefs, who add the flower's peppery petals to summer salads and trendy cocktails.'
Otherwise known as the English marigold or pot marigold, this cottage garden favourite is easy to start growing in the spring with plenty of sun and well-drained soil.
It will be equally happy in a large pot on your balcony or the kitchen window box – maybe planted with parsley or coriander. And if that isn't enough, a bunch of these will look glorious in the hallway or on the kitchen table.
'Some years ago, I went to visit the legendary castle gardens of Villandry in the Loire,' says Tim. This castle dates back to the 16th century, but in 1906 it was bought by Dr Joachim Carvello, who wanted to restore the gardens’ original Renaissance style.
'In the years that followed, he did something daring,' continues Tim. 'He restored the kitchen garden using both vegetables and flowers to create beautiful colour and pattern formation. This caused quite a stir at the time.
'The displays are still amazing, and one veg that stood out for me was the Romanesco cauliflowers with their zingy green and purple hues and extraordinary conical-shaped florets. If you roast them or add them to a stir fry, they’ve got a lovely nutty taste. Who said a veg can’t be a work of art!'
'What is there not to love about these little jewels of yellow, red and gold,' says Tim. 'They may have gone out of fashion for a while, but I think gardeners are fully embracing them again because they cheerfully crawl and scramble along the ground splashing their colours here, there and everywhere.'
Gardeners certainly agree that they are one of the easiest seeds to grow and will equally climb walls and hang down over containers and window boxes. They'll also flower all summer long – right up until Christmas if you're lucky.
'And to top it all, you can eat the whole thing,' continues Tim. 'The leaves make pesto; the flowers give a kick to a posh salad; and the seeds, known as capers when pickled, are tiny explosions of flavour that will knock the socks off an omelette or a soggy sandwich.'
'For some reason, this fantastic herb always makes me think of The Dance of the Seven Veils – the scandalous dance performed by Salome for King Herod. Maybe it's because the plant's wispy elegance does actually resemble a dancing figure, with its dreamy feathery bluey-green foliage – not too unlike a veil.'
This easy, fast-growing plant loves a sunny spot in well-drained soil, will thrive in a pot on your patio or windowsill and takes 12 weeks to harvest.
'Not only that, but it's also one of my favourite herbs to cook with,' adds Tim. 'The chopped leaves are perfect for fish, while the liquorice-tasting bulbs and seeds are great in a bean stew. The Egyptians loved it, the Greeks and the Romans did, too. And so do we.'
For some kids, gardening begins when their favourite nursery teacher plants a sunflower seed in a pot, and in a few months, it grows into a giant. Is there anything more wondrous?
'I think it's pretty much the same for adults,' says Tim. 'I like to grow a few along the side of a sunny wall and or fence and go out with a measuring tape to see how much they've grown – like you would with your kids. You can have so much fun!'
As well as the towering golden single-stem varieties, such as Russian Giant and Summer Breeze, there are also equally stunning smaller blooms, such as Red Sun and Vanilla Ice.
'At the end of the summer, if the birds haven't beaten me to it, I’ll roast the seeds and add them to my muesli. A perfect start to the day,' adds Tim.
'My all-time favourite tea has got to be the one that's made with lemon verbena – just a handful of washed leaves and some boiling water,' says Tim.
'Like lemon balm, this wonderful herb's leaves have an intense lemon aroma. As soon as I spot it in a garden, I have to head over and rub it between my fingers – the scent will linger for ages.'
This herb originates from South America and, not surprisingly, when it first came to Europe was used for its oils and perfume.
They're not the easiest plants to grow from seed, but many of the larger garden centres will sell them. It needs a sheltered sunny spot and is ideal for a container. 'As well as a relaxing tea,' adds Tim, 'you can also freeze the leaves in ice cubes to make a cool drink on a blistering hot day.'
From zingy yellow courgettes to bright orange pumpkins, there are so many colourful vegetables that you could dot around the garden, in between the lupins and the hollyhocks.
'But is there anything more jewel-like than the sight of a velvety purple-pink globe appearing above the ground with its dark green leaves and ruby red stems?' asks Tim. 'Beetroots are a thing of beauty.'
They can be grown from seed and are happiest with the sun on their skin. And whether it's raw or roasted, juiced or pureed, they are so versatile in the kitchen.
If Jamie Oliver's beetroot salad with feta and pear doesn't appeal to you, or Raymond Blanc’s salmon and beetroot tartare, maybe Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's chocolate beetroot brownies will. Whatever next!
Often described as the 'seaside herb' because it grows in rocks and crevices by the sea, its name is said to be a corruption of the French words 'herbe de Saint-Pierre' because St Peter is the patron saint of fishermen.
Its small, elongated leaves have a succulent appearance and produce pretty clusters of tiny yellow flowers. It has been cultivated here for centuries, often pickled in brine and used as a condiment.
'But I love the fact that when you cook the leaves in butter, they taste like asparagus,' says Tim. 'It's one of the many edimentals in our garden at Chelsea and reflects the eventual destination of the garden, which will be a new public garden in Morecambe Bay.'
'This plant perhaps says it all,' says Tim. 'Rhubarb is not only amazing to look at, but it makes the best puddings! Just look at its long, smooth raspberry-red stems. They're unlike anything else! Then it has these large leaves which span out over the ground like flamboyant fans to cool you down in the midday sun.'
There are lots of varieties to choose from, and if you want a head start, they are available in many of the big garden centres.
You could grow it beside something tall, like a towering blue sea holly – another edimental full of colour and drama. Rhubarb crumble with candied sea holly, anyone?
The Eden Project: Bring Me Sunshine, designed by Harry Holding and architect Alex Michaelis, and generously supported by the charity Project Giving Back, is at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026.
After the show, the garden will be relocated to Morecambe Bay to form part of a new 1.5-acre public garden that will act as a gateway to Eden Project Morecambe, set to open in 2028.
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