Edible Vegetables with Red and Maroon Foliage

Plants with Colorful Leaves for Edible Landscapes & Victory Gardens

Feb 13, 2009

Gardeners do not have to sacrifice colorful landscapes to stretch their family's food budget. These edible vegetable plants all have brightly colored foliage.

With everyone trying to find ways of saving money and stretching their grocery budget even further, the Victory Garden is returning. As families attempt to grow more of their own fresh fruits and vegetables, there is no need for a drab and boring landscape. These plants with edible foliage look attractive in the landscape.

A favorite way to add color to the landscape is through bright red or maroon colored foliage. These plants all have beautiful foliage colors, but also the added benefit of being edible vegetables.

Beets are easy-to-grow vegetables, usually grown for their tender, edible roots. This cultivar, however, also has bright burgundy leaves that are highly attractive in the landscape. Gardeners can use them as edging in a full sun planter or border, harvesting the tender leaves to add to salads and soups. The leaves are edible, especially if harvested while tender, so planting these in an edible landscape gives them the chance to do double-duty.

'Ruby' Chard With Red Foliage Color

Gardeners should plant these seeds directly into the garden in early spring. Chard is related to beets and 'Ruby' is a lovely variety with bright red midribs to add color to an edible landscape. By harvesting the outside leaves, but keeping the growing center intact, gardeners can enjoy the leaves in salads and other recipes while leaving the plant to continue growing.

Giant Red Mustard

A slightly taller mustard version, the 'Giant Red' grows up to 18" tall and makes a good middle-of-the-border choice for full sun gardens. Some landscapers add this foliage plant to cool-season annual containers even if they do not plan to eat it, since the leaves are so beautiful. The attractive, slightly-crumpled looking foliage is deep red or purple in color. Gardeners who want to increase their home-grown food supply can use this strong mustard in sauteed dishes or as a garlic substitute for more culinary color.

Red Cabbage

There are several varieties of red cabbage that do well in home gardens including 'Red Meteor' and 'Red Ball', so edible landscapers will have a choice. All require some sun protection, consistently moist soil, and fertile growing conditions to do well. The rich red foliage, and unusual shape of the rounded growth, makes them highly ornamental in any landscape. If gardeners want color, function and taste for their kitchen, red cabbage is an excellent vegetable selection.

By adding some edible plants to a landscape, gardeners can keep the beautiful curb-appeal of a nice garden, but save money at the grocery store as well.

The copyright of the article Edible Vegetables with Red and Maroon Foliage in Plants & Bulbs is owned by Angela England. Permission to republish Edible Vegetables with Red and Maroon Foliage in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.