A kale and cardoon “hedge.” really stands out.
|
|
|
|
Every year, I try something different with the long bed that goes along our front sidewalk. Last year, I got a little wacky and used vegetables: kale and cardoons (a vegetable that’s related to the artichoke). At the end of the year, I was pretty pleased with how it looked when the cardoons were putting out their tufted pink flowers and the red kale had reached 4-5 feet tall.
The idea started with cardoons, a striking plant at all stages of growth. The architectural leaves are jagged and thorny, with a sort of silvery color. The flowers — if you’re lucky enough to get them — are violet-blue. They smell, too. Whether it’s a good smell or a bad smell depends on your nose.
I started planting my 13-foot long bed with four cardoon plants, spaced equidistant. Between these, I added Redbor kale, which I had grown before. I knew it would give the border some height. To fill out the planting, I added flowering plants with pink or white flowers. I used white petunias to keep things interesting early on, while the kale and cardoons were getting started. In addition, I mixed in some pink-flowering agastache, which had lots of small flowers held on long stems. The airy texture was a good contrast to the bold foliage of the kale and cardoons.
The whole thing was relatively carefree through the season. Other than regular fertilizing and watering, all I had to do was trim the occasional dead leaf from the cardoon. Once the kale and cardoons were tall, I opted to stake them with bamboo poles for security against high winds. It was worth the effort because the display looked sharp right on through the first few frosts.
We live on a fairly busy street, so we got lots of comments from passersby. Most of them went something like this: “What on earth is that?”
The challenge now is to come up with something for this year. I’m not sure yet, but I’m thinking orange.
With all the rain we had last week for 10 days, one of my veggie beds that is always wet annyway, was under water. I couldn’t plant the veggies I had already statedin peat pots, so I decided I had to get them in somewhere and put them in one of my flower beds. It will be interesting to see what cukes, peppers and squash looks like next to my Peonies and lilies!
Very interesting. I have never grown cardoons, perhaps I’ll give them a go.
Such a pretty combination!
About 12 years ago I moved back to a caravan my son had been living in for a number of years, & a patch of ‘artichokes’ I’d planted had naturalized.
They were hUGE plants, about half had white flowers, the other half the normal purple, all rather small & ‘fiddly’ …
Later I was reading an entry on artichokes & their cousins cardoons – taller, architectural with ‘fiddly’ flowers – that’s what these were cardoons!! Folks often commented on how unique & lovely they were.
Remembering an herbalist’s comments that all thistles had healing properties, I had harvested seed & used like milk thistle as a nice ‘tonic’ on my morning cereal (~ 1 Tbsp, ground in an electric seed mill)
Have been thinking of growing some again – it was seedlings which produced the white flowered form, I had a bag with some still in it, not sure if I still do …