7. Swiss Chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla)
If you love salads, you’ll want to have Swiss chard in your garden. This beautiful edible plant is a leafy annual vegetable (biennial in middle and warmer zones 6–10) that tends to be overshadowed by its more popular cousins like spinach and kale.
Among the leafy greens, however, chard truly stands out thanks to its colorful foliage, which can range from yellow to red and purple. Because of that, this beautiful edible plant can make a colorful addition to garden beds.
It can be planted in either spring or fall and tolerates both frost and heat. Chard seed capsules often contain two seeds in them, so if both bloom, just prune back one to ensure the other reaches maturity.
8. Garden Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)
Nasturtium plants include both annual and perennial flowering varieties in the Tropaeolum genus, which covers over 80 different plants. These beautiful edible plants are native to Central and South America and are known for their rich, jewel-toned colors.
If you plant them in the spring after the frost has passed, they will grow pretty fast. In fact, nasturtiums do best with a little neglect. What’s even more surprising about these flowering plants is that they are also edible. Both the blooms and leaves have a peppery flavor and can be either pickled or eaten fresh in salads.
The flowers grow all summer, and the leaves feature a unique shape similar to those of water lilies. It’s best grown from seeds and doesn’t transplant successfully.