Part Shade Ornamental Edible Vegetable and Herb List

One of the delightful tricks I use to plant up living walls to make them more colorful and infinitely more useful, is to add ornamental edible plants mixed in with the traditional annuals I might place in my part-shade living walls. Below is a part shade ornamental edible vegetable and herb list filled with colorful and creative shade gardening suggestions. Great in living walls, containers, or traditional beds; mix these ornamental edibles in for a pop of nutritious and beautiful color.

When planting up your living wall, be sure to use my techniques for planting drought tolerant organic container gardens. When you lift a container garden up off the ground and put it on the wall it often receives more air and can dry out more quickly. Counter that with my recommended heavy, richer soil mix to keep the root systems moisture for a longer period of time. To learn more tips on living wall gardening, please check out my latest book Grow a Living Wall.

Part Shade Ornamental Edible Vegetable and Herb List

1. Arugula
2. Basil
3. Beets (for the greens, not the root)
4. Celery
5. Collards
6. Corn Maiche
7. Cucumbers
8. Herbs (i.e. basil, chives, cilantro, lemon balm, mint, oregano, parsley, scallions)
9. Kale
10. Lettuces
11. Mustard Greens
12. Pak Choi
13. Rhubarb
14. Spinach
15. Swiss Chard

Following the part shade ornamental edible vegetable and herb list, I have planted my side garden living wall test garden (above photo) with plants from Jung Seed: Coleus – Wedding Train Stained Glass Coleus,  Ipomoea – Lime, Parsley – Curly Parsley, Swiss Chard – Bright Lights, Basil – Crimson King Basil, Begonia – White Ballerina Begonia, Dinosaur Kale – Black Magic Lacinato Kale, and Lobelia. Vegetables were donated to a local food pantry at the end of the season.