This very rapid growing architectural curiosity is often grown as an attractive 'spot plant', although it is more usually grown as a fresh vegetable. You can simply pull the continuously produced, stunning, purple-centred leaves off, and these can be used either as young leaves in salads, or mature leaves cooked like spinach, although the best tasting parts of the plant are the tender growing tips, which can be harvested continuously, making the plant become bushy. It tastes very much like chard or spinach with a hint of asparagus when cooked. This plant, a relative of quinoa, also has edi ... Learn More

This outstanding shrub or small tree bears long-lived "flowerheads" of enormous, impressive, buttercup-shaped flowers, consisting of waxy, creamy, butter-coloured bracts, followed by large red, strawberry-like fruits, which ripen right into early winter, producing a truly impressive sight. These are not really edible for us discriminating humans, but animals and birds love the ample fleshy insides. This is vaguely sweet, and tastes of nothing really, but can perhaps be likened to a large flavourless strawberry, amply filled with smooth, round, woody seeds, the size of small lemon pips! Anyway, ... Learn More

A gorgeous, upright, edible, (yes edible when ripe), crab apple with masses of cup-shaped, pink-flushed, white flowers in late spring. These are followed in autumn by profuse bunches of small, bright golden-yellow crab apples which remain for many weeks. The dark green leaves turn a dazzling butter-yellow before falling in late autumn. This compact, pollution-tolerant crab apple is a beautiful ornamental tree. Of all the yellow fruited crab apples this beauty is the most well known and prolific. Additionally, this is one of the two best available choices for pollinating apple trees and indeed ... Learn More

This lovely giant grass is an attractive pale blue when young before becoming greenish grey or yellow as it ages. It bears small, light green, furry leaves and in warmer countries it is in leaf all year round. When fully-grown the maximum diameter of the stems or culms is around 5-6 inches or 13-16cm. and the lower parts are sometimes solid. The strong, lower erect, grey-green, slightly rough culms finally form a very tightly-packed clump. This sturdy tropical and subtropical, non-invasive, clumping species is very drought tolerant once established and is native to Southeast Asia where its edi ... Learn More

The tasty fruits of the exotic "PITAHAYA" cactus can be grown as an ornamental plant indoors, or outside in hot countries, where it will put forth large fragrant white flowers. These in turn produce an almost endless supply of attractive, grapefruit-sized red fruits, with numerous, tiny, rather fascinating, green-tipped red 'wings'. When the soft, rubbery, inedible skin is cut open, the attractively contrasting, delicately-flavoured white flesh, studded with tiny edible black seeds is revealed, rather similar to "Kiwi Fruits". These incredibly healthy fruits contain generous servings of vita ... Learn More

Whatever next! Can you believe a strawberry with yellow flowers. And this is the rare variegated-leaved form. Attractive red berries (edible, although pippy, but loved by birds) and very similar to alpine strawberries, are produced all summer, on a creeping evergreen carpet. Perfect hanging over a wall or rockery, or as an attractive slowly creeping ground cover. ... Learn More

This sizeable evergreen tree has a buttressed trunk and a spreading crown, and bark that is smooth and grey, with small pale brown pustules. The attractive clusters of orange-red fruits are officially described as edible, but they are hard and not palatable and are usually grown for their ornamental effect. The large leaves, a little like the rubber plant, have wonderfully pale green veins that show up beautifully against the emerald green of the leaves. This particular ficus is a beautiful addition to any home and makes an excellent container plant. ... Learn More

An unusually small tree in the wild, it has disproportionately large leaves, hence one of its common names, which start intensely red, and turn more and more green when reaching their ultimate size of up to 50 cm length. Its edible fruits, which ripen both on branches and the trunk, are used to make jams, juices and curries in India, whilst in Vietnam, unripe fruits are also used in salads. It also provides various traditional medicinal uses, and its large strong leaves are often used as plates! The tree is cultivated in India and from Myanmar to Vietnam and SW China and Brazil. ... Learn More

This culinary herb, well known for its fluffy, feathery plumes of soft green leaves, and flat heads of yellow, star like flowers followed by edible seeds, is a highly aromatic and flavourful herb with culinary and medicinal uses. Fennel features prominently in Mediterranean cuisine, where bulbs and fronds are used, both raw and cooked, in side dishes, salads, pastas and vegetable dishes. It is an extremely attractive plant that also performs well in the garden borders being a wonderful attractor of bees and butterflies. ... Learn More

Hanging clusters of long, tubular, pinkish red and orange flowers open on this rare, superb and sought-after plant, followed by small, edible fruits. It is easily cultivated in cool temperate climates without extremes of heat or cold, either in a well-drained spot in the garden or a large container. In a severe winter it can be cut to the ground, but invariably re-emerges the following spring. A marvelous shrub to about 1.5 m tall it is native to paramo and cloud forests of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador between 2500 and 4000 m. ... Learn More

A shrub or small tree, rarely more than 2 m (6 ft.) tall, growing in dry deciduous forests, in Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and South Africa. It usually develops multiple stems, covered by dark gray-brown bark, upright, elliptical leaves with toothed margins, grayish-green above and pale green below and yellow or orange flowers, followed by spherical, reddish brown, edible fruits. In Botswana, the fruits of Grewia flava are highly appreciated and are used in the preparation of traditional beer and snacks. It is best adapted to warm temperate and drier tropical climates. Seeds germina ... Learn More

Grewia similis, commonly known as Cross Berry or Lavender Starflower, is a scrambling shrub or small tree native to regions of Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, eastern tropical Africa, and Ethiopia. It typically grows up to 3 meters in height and may exhibit a climbing habit with woody knobs on older stems. The plant produces simple leaves with serrated edges and lovely lavender flowers, followed by small, orange-red, sweet, and edible fruits measuring 5–10 mm in diameter. These fruits are consumed fresh and are also used to sweeten porridge. In its native habitat, Gr ... Learn More

This early-flowering daylily constantly produces masses of fragrant, long-lasting, bright custard-yellow, lily-like flowers, which open in the late afternoon, and last for just one day. Like most hemerocallis, it is robust and easy to grow. Also called Hemerocallis flava, the "Lemon Day-lily" is found right across China and Europe. The Greek term 'hemerocallis' means 'beautiful for a day', and daylilies benefit from regular deadheading to prolong flowering and prevent their unsightly deadheads from dominating the scene. This true lemon lily, is an absolute treasure. The flowers of some d ... Learn More

This culinary herb, well known for its fluffy, feathery plumes of soft green leaves, and flat heads of yellow, star like flowers followed by edible seeds, is a highly aromatic and flavourful herb with culinary and medicinal uses. Fennel features prominently in Mediterranean cuisine, where bulbs and fronds are used, both raw and cooked, in side dishes, salads, pastas and vegetable dishes. It is an extremely attractive plant that also performs well in the garden borders being a wonderful attractor of bees and butterflies. ... Learn More

Rocket is an easy to grow salad crop. This variety has the vigour of salad rocket with the wild rocket flavour; it adds a delicious spicy, peppery punch to salads. The younger leaves are milder, more tender and delicately flavoured. Older leaves can also be lightly cooked as a spinach substitute; added to sauces, stir-fried or sautéed in olive oil. The flowers are edible too. It has excellent mildew resistance. Rocket likes a sunny site with rich, fertile, well-drained soil. It also grows well in containers. ... Learn More