Edible Favorites for Your Cutting Garden

There’s nothing quite like pairing food with flowers. Most people don’t pay much attention to what’s in a vase unless they recognize the ingredients, and a little food is usually all it takes to get people talking.
As you’re planning your garden this year, I highly encourage you to add some edibles alongside your cut flowers. Not only are they beautiful for arrangements, they are wonderful for eating. We chose the varieties in plant delivery vancouver —including edible flowers—because they are beautiful and delicious.

All these varieties are easy to grow from seed. Many love the heat and produce abundantly from summer through the first fall frost. Because our farm is situated in an area with relatively cool summers, I grow most of my edibles in a hoophouse for an added level of heat. But if your garden gets plenty of sun, you can grow all your edibles outdoors.
Here are some of my favorite edibles for floral design.
Peas
You can start peas now to enjoy this spring, planting seeds directly in the garden. Fresh peas or young whole pods are delicious added fresh to salads, rice dishes, and stir-fry, or used in soups.
Peas are a cool weather crop. Direct seed in early spring as soon as the soil can be worked. Provide a strong trellis or support for vines to climb.
We stock two unusual heirlooms. Their vining stems make a wonderful, unexpected addition to summer flower arrangements and are a real conversation starter. Blue Podded Blauwschokkers produce vines loaded with the most striking dark purple pea pods for shelling. Pick early for best flavor. The color mixes beautifully with cool-toned florals. Golden Sweet churns out loads of delicious chartreuse-yellow snow pea pods.
For use in floral design, harvest stems when pods are brightly colored, taking care when handling delicate vines. Expect a vase life of 5 to 7 days. (Please note that unlike these edible garden peas, the seeds of sweet peas are poisonous if ingested; it’s important to make this distinction in the garden.)
Tomatoes
If you could grow only one thing in your vegetable garden, chances are you’d choose tomatoes—the longtime favorite for salads, sauces, and fresh eating. And tomatoes are probably my all-time favorite vegetables to sneak into bouquets, too. They look amazing tumbling over the edge of any size arrangement.
I especially love the smaller-fruited types since they are the easiest to incorporate. For larger arrangements, medium-sized fruits are perfect.
Tomatillos
This easy-to-grow, heat-loving edible is an extremely productive addition to the garden. The fruits can be used to make salsa and tangy green sauce, fresh or cooked. For kitchen use, harvest when fruit has filled the husk and the husk begins to split.
Start seed indoors in trays 4 to 6 weeks before last frost; transplant out after all danger of frost has passed and soil is thoroughly warmed. A trellis or tomato cage will help contain plants.

Tomatillo ‘Verde’ is an easy-to-grow heat lover and an extremely productive addition to the garden. After buttercup-yellow flowers bloom and set fruit, graceful stems throw beautiful lantern-like pods that makes surprising additions to arrangements.
For design use, harvest once seed pods have formed. Expect a vase life of 7 days.
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