1. Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)
We’re all familiar with sunflowers, but not everybody knows there are several species. One is the Jerusalem artichoke, also known as the sunchoke, which is a native sunflower variety that’s perennial and shade-tolerant. It also crowds out weeds and produces edible tubers.
This beautiful edible plant is a great choice for any home garden. It adds color to your landscape, but you can also eat it. The tubers can be harvested in the fall or even in the winter, and you can eat them raw or cooked like a potato.
Jerusalem artichokes grow tall like a sunflower and do well if planted as a border. You can also plant them on the north side of a garden bed. However, it’s important to note that they can easily spread in your yard. To prevent this from happening, dig up all the tubers each year.
2. Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)
Asparagus is another beautiful edible plant that you can grow in your garden. This perennial flowering plant features young shoots, which are the source of a crunchy vegetable with a distinctive flavor.
Harvest those shoots through early summer, then allow the plant to grow and watch it turn into a bushy, fernlike plant that can do double duty as an ornamental.
Once established in the soil, this beautiful edible plant will return for as many as 15 years. Since it can take some time to start from seed, a better option would be to plant crowns instead, which can be found at most nurseries.
Asparagus plants grow best in spring and have the perfect crunch and sweetest flavor when the shoots are harvested right on time.
