Edible plants make beau­ti­ful con­tainer gar­dens when you mix colours and textures.

Growing edi­ble plants can be as sim­ple as fill­ing a con­tainer with a 4-pack (or three) with gor­geous leafy greens instead of impa­tiens. In a few weeks you can scis­sor off some of the bounty to add to a sum­mer sup­per or salad. It’s a replen­ish­able feast; and one that is as attrac­tive as a planter filled with flow­er­ing plants. Using orna­men­tal, edi­ble plants means they are never out of flower.

In the con­tain­ers above, tex­tures and colours range from the frothy, airy foliage of bronze fen­nel, to the smooth waxy sheen of a red cab­bage, while bright green pars­ley makes a strik­ing con­trast with red let­tuce leaves.

Haskap berry bushes are in gar­den cen­tres now, includ­ing Fiesta Gardens.

Haskap berries are a won­der­ful new kind of berry (Lonicera caerulea,) which is sim­i­lar to a blue­berry but is actu­ally a mem­ber of the hon­ey­suckle fam­ily. They are also com­monly called Honeyberries. A del­i­cacy in Japan, the word Haskap or “Hasukappu” comes from the lan­guage of the Ainu, an ancient peo­ple from Hokkaido island.

the Ainu mean­ing of Haskap is “lit­tle present at the end of the branch” rather than “per­pet­ual youth and longevity”. Perhaps the best is to com­bine it to “A lit­tle present of per­pet­ual youth and longevity”

These new berries have a kiwi-like tex­ture with a unique flavour blend that some describe as a mix of blue­berry and rasp­berry. Like most dark pur­ple fruits they are high in antiox­i­dants, and are also a good source of vit­a­min C. Berries of all kinds are very good for you, and this is one lit­tle present you can grow in your own garden.