Winter vegetable-flowers

I sympathize with gardeners who want to inject some colour into their winter flowerbeds, but ornamental cabbages, with their big purple centres, have always seemed such an obvious way of going about it. But lately, I’ve been noticing a smaller, much more subtle version. It’s flowering kale – same family as cabbage – and some kinds have the look of delicate, creamy roses. Paired with carnations or other flowers that pick up their touches of green, pink or purple, they are part of some stunning bouquets at my local flower shop.

I'll probably never get around to growing them myself, but today, I indulged my interest in these unusual flowers and had them included in a hostess-gift bouquet for John's cousin Janice and her husband Jim. Combined with red alstromeria and some greenery, they turned into a cheerful, and unusual  Christmas bouquet.

My flowering-kale (brassica oleracea) bouquet. A gardening website says you can eat them, but they've been bred for looks, not flavour. Photo by John Denniston.

A closer look at the kale. The website says their leaves have been hybridized to feature purple, rosy and creamy white colours, making them look more like large flowers than vegetables. Photo by John Denniston.

I couldn't resist taking them outside to see how they'd look in my back garden. Maybe I should try growing some after all.

A close-up of one of the flower/vegetables. A beautiful combination of pink and green tints.