New Ornamental Edibles exhibit opened at U.S. National Arboretum

The new Ornamental Edibles exhibit at the U.S. National Arboretum demonstrates ways that home gardeners can incorporate decorative vegetables like purple basil into their landscape gardens. Visitors to the herb garden are encouraged to experience plants through sight, smell, touch and taste. It is the largest designed herb garden in the nation that includes annual, perennial and woody herbal plants.
The exhibit is being used to promote healthy eating and contribute to the USDA initiative encouraging Americans to eat locally produced food.
Scott Aker, who leads the arboretum’s Garden Unit, said ornamental edible plants have attractive foliage, texture and color that give them landscape appeal while they are producing food. Even small areas and container gardens can be used to produce attractive vegetables and fruit.
The arboretum’s edible exhibit features vegetables appropriate for the current season while also highlighting USDA-Agricultural Research Service research. Visitors to the arboretum this summer will see ARS-developed, nematode-resistant peppers with tomatoes, eggplants, gourds and beans in an attractive landscape garden.
Visitors are encouraged to sample the plants in the exhibit. If they want to know more about the garden, they can call the arboretum’s “Cell Phone Tour” phone number displayed on a sign in the garden.
Crops that have been harvested from the garden include spring salad greens and tomatoes. This fall the exhibit will contain cool season crops such as kale and leafy greens. If visitor feedback about the garden is good, the arboretum may decide to continue the exhibit another year.

Pictured: The Ornamental Edibles exhibit at the U.S. National Arboretum demonstrates ways that gardeners can incorporate decorative vegetables into their landscapes.
Photo courtesy of Jeanette Warriner, ARS.