What veggies do you grow that you think are the prettiest?

My tops - scarlet runner beans and purple pod beans. The scarlet runners have almost lime green leaves and brilliant red-orange blossoms. The purple have dark, purplish leaves and purple blossoms.

Pretty in pink peas (my biodynamic variety) (darn mildred ate most of the blossoms, but a few still on the vines)

Pak Choi, with it's red leaves and happy yellow flower stalks (that taste great raw).

Egg plant, flowers though hard to see are sweet, but those large purple fruits are ultra cool.

Second year carrots - entirely inedible, but WOW.

I second Scarlet Runner & purple-podded beans - yellow wax beans too. Also love the different colored varieties of eggplant.

Have never grown a red-leaved Pak Choi (didn't even realize there was one), but do love Rainbow Chard, with its kaleidescope of white, red, flaming orange, & neon pink stems. I find the stems much more tender than red & white varieties of chard.

Burdundy okra is another favorite, with those red stalks, hibiscus blooms, & deep red okra pods.

Can't grow chard because leaf miners have invaded and, although I've been told how lovely okra is, I don't think I would eat it, so haven't grown it yet. Maybe you wouldn't call this pak choi red leafed, but it seems red to me:

That IS pretty. Do you remember what variety it was?

Don't remember the variety, but it was from Territorial seed and I think it was the only variety they had. The leaves are redder on some than on others.

I will save some seed this year.

Maggie

I third the bean vote...they are so pretty.

I grew some yellow snow peas one year...they are very pretty too (but they weren't very tasty).

Can I vote for chives? I think chives are fantastic....I should eat them more often. *ponder*

Oooh - I was going to do yellow snow peas this year, since I do so many stir fry dishes & thought they'd be attractive mixed in with green varieties. Ended up not getting around to them, but am still interested.

When you say they weren't very tasty, were they bland, or something else?

they weren't as sweet as the regular snow peas. But the vines were very pretty (I forget the color of the flowers) and they were also productive.

Also an easy to deal with size...a normal tomato tower held the vines up.

quote:

Originally posted by MaggieZ:
The scarlet runners have almost lime green leaves and brilliant red-orange blossoms.

I'll second your scarlet runner beans. However, mine are always dark green leaves -- I think lime green would be nicer. I think the beans that I hold on to for next years seed are pretty too.

I also am doing a pink runner bean -- also quite pretty and I like the bean texture better.

For my favorite, I'd have to stick with golden chard, which sadly, has been mown down by bunnies this year.

I thought Bull's Blood beets were quite nice too, but I didn't bother growing them this year.

I quite like Mascara lettuce as well. I put it in my flower box this year so the bunnies won't get it. I must say, I think it is just as pretty as my Marmalade Heuchera which grows below.

Does anyone have suggestions for pretty romaine or head lettuces? (I'm looking for something a little juicier than just loose leaf lettuce.)

Has anyone had luck with amaranth? I tried Double Color Amaranth this year. It looks so-so, but it is growing so slowly that I havent' tried any yet.

There is a red romaine lettuce called, of course, "Red Romaine" - lol! Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds carries it (www.rareseeds.com).

I've never grown it myself (yet), but have enjoyed it in some commercial bagged salad mixes & it's quite nice, if just a teensy bit softer than the regular green types.

There is also a red Batavia type of heading lettuce that's supposed to be quite attractive. It heads up loosely, but is supposed to have crisp leaves more similar to an iceberg. Apparently both Batavia & Iceberg are considered "crispheads". Anyway, I've seen the red Batavia listed in catalogs under both "Red Batavia" & "Batavia Red".