Rhubarb flowers bloom atop tall cream colored stalks. In warm-winter areas, cut them off when they emerge to focus the plant’s energy on stalks and leaves. In colder climates, where the plants are so vigorous and flower plumes so decorative, let them grow and show off in the summer.

Easily grown, with virtually no pests and diseases, rhubarb is hardy to zone 2. Here, it grows happily in this zone 7 Long Island garden. Sunlight coming through the plant emphasizes the red of the stalks and becomes a bright accent in your landscape.

How to Grow

Rhubarb has specific requirements. It needs at least 2 months of winter cold and is not productive in areas with very hot summers. In the high desert, plant it in autumn as a winter annual.

In most climates, grow rhubarb in full sun in acidic, well-drained loam rich in organic matter; in the high desert, choose an area with afternoon shade for coolness.  Mulch in spring and fall with compost or manure to keep weeds down and to feed the plant. In arid climates, provide 1 inch of water a week. I’ve had the most success with rhubarb when it’s been in a bed with overhead water rather than drip irrigation.

Rhubarb serves as a backdrop for low-growing herbs in the Denver Botanical Garden. The parsley and blooming oregano provide bright green accents against the red of the flowering amaranth and rhubarb stalks while the straw bee skep adds a rustic decorative touch.

Rhubarb has few pests and diseases.  If placed correctly and given a modest amount of attention, a plant will last a lifetime. Two to three plants are adequate for the average family.

Unless you are growing it as an annual, do not harvest any stalks the first year. After that, harvest by gently pulling or cutting off the thickest, healthiest stalks near soil level. Harvest begins in spring and, if the plants are healthy, goes well into summer. Growth slows down in hot weather, but picks up again in fall. Well-established plants tolerate an additional light fall harvest. After a decade or so, if the plant is getting crowded, dig it up and divide into three or four plants.

In my cool and dry Zone 9 garden, rhubarb is a focal point. Its large leaves contrast nicely with the small foliage of the boxwood and jasmine surrounding it. In winter, after the foliage dies down, I fill the empty space with tulip bulbs that bloom in the spring.

In the Kitchen

Cook the thick, fleshy leafstalks of this striking plant in traditional rhubarb pie, sauces, and stew; my favorite is strawberry-rhubarb pie—sweeter than straight rhubarb. You can even make rhubarb wine. Preserve rhubarb as jam or wine. Freeze or can stewed rhubarb.

Caution: Rhubarb leaves are deadly poisonous if eaten.

Rhubarb and Strawberry Cobbler

This traditional rhubarb cobbler is surprisingly light and creamy.

Filling:

3 cups rhubarb cut into 1/2” pieces

3 cups sliced strawberries

2/3 cups sugar

1 tablespoon orange or lemon peel

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.

Place rhubarb, sugar, and orange peel into a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until rhubarb begins to juice, about 2 minutes. Add butter and flour and bring to a boil while stirring. Cook about 1 minute. Add sliced strawberries. Remove from heat and pour fruit mixture into a deep 10” pie dish.

Batter:

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter, chilled

1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided

3/4 cups half and half

2 tablespoons grated orange or lemon peel

Optional: 1 cup heavy cream whipped with 1 tablespoon extra fine sugar

In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Cut butter into small pieces. With a fork, or a pastry cutter, cut in chilled butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 1/2 cup sugar and blend. Slowly incorporate half/and half with a fork. Spoon dough over fruit to cover. Mix 2 tablespoons sugar and orange peel and sprinkle over top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly and serve with, or without, whipped cream. Serves 6.

For many people, strawberry-rhubarb is the first “fruit” pie of spring. There’s no need to fuss with fancy crusts or picture-perfect presentations; something so delicious will quickly disappear.

If you live in a mild winter area like I do, USDA Zone 9, or warmer, the rich green shiny leaves, stunningly fragrant flowers, and colorful fruits make these edibles a must have. If you live in a colder climate, then you can grow them in containers.

Here we have a kumquat and Meyer lemon, both of which grow beautifully in containers. They also are among the hardiest of the common citrus and can be grown in warmer sections of Zone 8. In case you were wondering, my edible landscape here also includes sugar snap pea vines and onions among the flowers and herbs.

Citrus fills all sorts of niches in your edible landscape. Full-size citrus reach 20 ft.; dwarf varieties that can be kept under 6 ft. are best for most yards. Of course, they’ll need sunlight; 6 hours is ideal, though lemons and limes can take less. Temperature is even more important. Most varieties tolerate only light frosts – kumquats and calamondins are the hardiest; lemons and limes are the least.  For sugary sweet grapefruits, oranges, and tangerines you need heat, lots and lots of heat. In cool-summer climates, give them full sun, plant against a hot south wall, or set them along a sunny patio that absorbs heat and reflects it back. All these tricks add to the sweetness of the fruits.  Consider citrus for hedges along the driveway or use smaller ones as foundation plantings, and make sure to have a few off your patio or bedroom window because the smell in the spring is unbelievable!

When I planted this navel orange, I made sure to put it in the warmest part of my yard. It benefits from the southern exposure, proximity to the house wall, and the extra warmth provided by the brick walk and gravel area. When a hard freeze is expected I put old-fashion large out-door Christmas lights in it and keep them lit all night to add extra heat.

Remember, your edible landscape also includes the no-man’s land between two houses or along a back alley. Ordinarily, this area is wasted. Citrus are perfect for that because they are shade-tolerant. A bonus for the trees is the extra heat from the street and house walls. The bonus for you is that the shade from their foliage cuts air conditioning bills.

This is actually my neighbor’s lemon tree that grows between our houses. It provides endless lemons and an amazing aroma to all our bedroom windows. Further down the path, toward the back of my house, my lime tree returns the favor, cascading limes into their yard.

Where do you start? First, decide. Do you want tangerines, mandarins, tangelos, grapefruits, lime leaf, limes, limequats, or lemons and oranges? Then, check your climate. What grows well in your area. If you have questions, there’s an amazing resource for you – Four Winds Growers. They’re a wholesale citrus nursery with a special place in their hearts for the home gardener. They’ve helped me when I’ve had questions, and they can help you, too. Their website will take you through the whole process from choosing from the many, many different varieties to how to plant, be it in the landscape or containers, how to grow them, and how to deal with any problems that may arise. They really want you to grow their citrus and succeed.

Tangelo and Kiwi Salad with Orange Blossoms

This citrus salad is lovely to look at and the flavors are both familiar, yet slightly different. Taste your citrus petals before adding them to the dressing. Expect some bitterness but if they are very harsh try blossoms from another tree. The point of adding a few citrus blossoms to the dressing is to infuse the tangelo juice with a lovely aroma and to deepen the citrus flavor.

6 medium tangelos, divided or 3 tangelos and a cup of bottled fresh tangerine juice

1 tablespoon lemon juice

5 lemon, tangerine, or orange blossoms

1 teaspoon honey (optional)

2 kiwi fruit

Squeeze three of the tangelos and put the juice in a medium bowl. To the tangelo (or tangerine) juice add the lemon juice, and the petals of 3 of the orange blossoms. If the tangelos are not very sweet, add a tablespoon of honey. Peel and section the remaining 3 tangelos and peel and slice the kiwi fruit, add them to the juice mixture and stir to cover the fruit. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

To serve divide the fruit between 4 serving dishes. Pour the tangelo juice over fruit and garnish with orange blossom petals. Serves 4

Q: (…) how do you keep the squash bugs away. I have them every year with no way to rid them. I would not put toxic poison out, I want it ito be free of bugs and snakes with out poison.– Pearl

A: Hi Pearl,
Squash bugs can be a persistent problem along the East Coast and in Midwest gardens. To keep them under control, choose summer squash as they are more resistant than winter squashes and pumpkins. Two suggestions for control: keep mulch well away from squash plants as the bugs congregate under loose material to avoid the heat of the day and cover young plants with floating row covers. When they start to bloom, remove the covering so bees can pollinate the flowers. By that time the plants should be large enough to withstand the bugs but if you occasionally hand gather them in the early morning while they still move slowly and drown them in a can of soapy water, you can keep the hoards at bay.

As far as the snakes, of course they are great for the ecosystem, but certainly not welcome in the garden under your squash. Visit the website: http://www.chiff.com/a/garden-snakes.htm  for lots of good ideas for keeping them out of your garden.
Great Gardening,
Ros Creasy

Adult Squash Bug

Photo Credit: By Richard Bartz, Munich aka Makro Freak (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Q: I have been growing vegetables in my 125 sq ft back yard for several years. The challenge has been making it look beautiful in the fall and winter.  Does your new book discuss year round gardening? And could you please list the flowers that are pictured in the slide show.

Thank you for sharing, you are an inspiration.

Andrea

A: Hi Andrea,
Yes, I discuss making the garden beautiful all year round. You didn’t say where you live but I find that strong lines created by raised beds, boxwood hedges, and interesting paths helps a lot to give a sense of place. Adding color with containers, painted walls and or gates, and a focal point or two – maybe a trellis, birdbath, or sculpture in a critical juncture holds the viewer’s eye in the space. You might even create a collection of antique garden tools or say Mexican sun faces on the far fence, or even hang a large decorative mirror there. (A mirror makes a small place look larger and is used by designers when there is something nice to reflect in the glass.) And as far as edibles, there are a number that grow well in all but the coldest winter areas including kales, cabbages, leeks, and chard. You can plant them in decorative blocks or diamonds instead of the usual straight rows, or plant them around a birdbath or sundial. Edible Landscaping has many more ideas; these are just to get you started.
I’d love to see photos of your finished creation. If you agree, I could then share it with others.
Thanks for the question,

Ros Creasy

Pomegranates, lemons, and persimmons make up my fall harvest.

In fact, many edibles are just as beautiful as a traditional flower or foliage plant. By including unusual vegetables in your designs, you are extending the structure, color and variety of potential plant materials. And, when combined with non-traditional planters, they can be real show stoppers.

If you are looking for inspiration, there is a great article on the design website, Houzz.com. Marianne Lipanovich writes about a whole host of ways to highlight vegetables in ornamental beds and containers. She’s also kind enough to mention Ros’ latest book, Edible Landscaping, as a resource. Houzz is a fantastic site and is also available as a mobile app. Below is a slideshow of photos from Marianne’s article:

This is my welcoming herbal entry. I planted two garlic chives, one on each side;  added a planting of regular chives; and for the containers I chose gold, tricolor, and purple sage; lemon and English thyme; and rosemary. Nasturtiums and ‘Lemon Gem’ marigolds are planted along the walk for color and two standard purple Potato Vines frame either side of the walk to add a formal feel.

My neighbors asked me to convert their small front yard, primarily a lawn planted on a slope, to a culinary herb garden. We replaced it with flowering perennials and easy-care shrubs on the slope, and selected thymes, rosemary, oregano, and chives planted near the level front walk. Stepping stones placed here and there make it easy to harvest the herbs and gives design to the planting areas. Now they can dash out of the kitchen for their herbs and have a cheerful garden that is easy to maintain.

Herb leaf colors range from gray, to green, to yellow, to purple, and include bi-colors too. Here I chose variegated lemon thyme and bi-colored oregano for the front of the bed. I then selected golden sage for the wooden container, and the upright Italian herb nepetella, spiky garlic chives, and the colorful lavender for the middle of the bed. Yellow violas and calendulas, and purple pansies add their rich colors and a ferny fennel lends a soft green background to the scene.

Herbs are at home in a mixed border and glamorous enough for the front street-side border. The sculptural collards anchor this colorful border. Prostrate and upright rosemary nestle up to the collards. Directly behind them is a purple basil, and behind it is a golden sage, some bronze fennel, and a yellow rose. Among the edible herbs are the non-edible yellow and red lantanas and geraniums.

This herb garden lends a yen-like peace to my back patio. A venerable old rosemary sets off the birdbath. Planted among the non-edible geraniums and million bells are a number of different thymes, a knotted marjoram, lavender, and Chinese chives. Horseradish and sage are planted in containers.

Three week old seedlings almost ready to plant in the garden

January is the perfect time to plan your spring and summer gardens. While there are many wonderful local nurseries around the country that offer a few racks of seeds and a limited number of edibles as transplants, I find the largest selection of ornamental edibles are available from mail-order and on-line seed companies. And when you order in January the companies are seldom sold out of some of the most popular choices.

I personally prefer to start the garden planning process by perusing paper catalogs. I put sticky notes on select pages to mark possible candidates, including varieties of seeds of both edibles and strictly ornamental flowers. In addition to the paper catalogs, I go on-line and check for transplant choices at chileplants.com, naturalgardening.com, and tastefulgarden.com. After I have limited my choices, always a painful process, I then go on line and order directly. I find on-line faster than ordering by mail and further, I can tell if the company is sold out and make adjustments to my final plan.

Baby red boc choi, chartreuse lettuces, and peacock feathered mustards are specialty vegetables started in my seed box

Most seed companies offer some varieties for the whole country but many specialize and choose the best varieties for a specific climate. I recommend that gardeners order from their closest seed companies when possible. Southerners from Southern seeds companies, West Coast gardeners from their region, and so on. The drop down “Other Useful Websites” under the Features section of this website contains is a very long list of seed companies and their links. In my book Edible Landscaping there is much information about these companies and many more, including their physical addresses, phone numbers, etc.

Golden zucchini from Renee's Garden Seeds is the star of my front border. In back are the burgundy leaves of purple orach, an heirloom variety from the Seed Savers Exchange.

I specifically recommend:

• Generally, for cool and/or short climates in the Northeast and Northwest try Bountiful Gardens, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Nichols Garden Nursery, Pinetree Garden Seeds, and the Territorial Seed Company
• For Southwestern gardens look to Native Seed Search, Plants of the Southwest, and Redwood City Seed Company
• For Southeastern gardens try Southern Seed Exchange and Whillhite Seed Company.
• For seed companies that are generalists with many great varieties look to Burpee’s, Cook’s Garden, and Renee’s Garden Seeds
• And finally check the website list for specialists like companies that carry mostly tomatoes, or heirlooms, and herbs specialists to round out your choices.

My containers are filled with special varieties of vegetables. In the large barrel there are plants of bush 'Henderson' lima beans climbing among the black-eyed-susan-vine, and a 'Super Bush' tomato overflows its container.

photo by David Mill

For years I have planted culinary herbs in my clients gardens when they have critter problems. Deer, rabbits, chipmunks, and woodchucks seem to avoid these intensely fragrant plants. And while it’s a bit unusual to plant them in cemeteries, I knew that my mother-in-law wouldn’t mind this choice in front of their gravestone as she had helped me type my first manuscript for The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping. She was a fan of edible landscaping!

A month later I contacted Gale and asked for an update. She sent along this photo with a note that the oreganos on each end look slightly cut back. So now the question is: are the cuts nibbles by critters or sloppy weed whacker damage? We don’t know yet. We do know that the sage, golden oregano and thyme seem to be untouched. Tune in, we’re going to keep an eye on this planting and follow it until we know for sure. Culinary might be the answer for many families who lose their cemetery flower plantings on a regular basis. Who knows, harvesting a few herbs may give us another excuse to visit with loved ones.