My 2026 Decorative and Edible Garden Plan

Saturday, January 17, 2026

It is that time of year as winter has set in and the dreary days seem endless; the time to dream of warm weather, spring breezes, and green things sprouting once again.  Can't you almost smell the fresh cut grass and turned earth?  

Every gardener looks forward to the spring growing season.  In the fall, we reflect back on what went well, not so well, what we want to learn more about over the gardening lull in winter, and sketch out our thoughts on next year's garden plan.  Then comes the seed catalogs as winter moves in.  Time to go back to that garden plan for the coming year and get ordering the seeds to make it happen!

Reflections on the 2025 garden and the 2026 garden plan

My garden consists of four parts: the perennials that come back year after year in the same spots and pots, the self-seeders that pop up in different spots, the stand by annuals I plant every year, and the new varieties I try each year.  I garden in my mulched flower beds; it's decorative and flowers help fruit and vegetable production.  Also, mulch suppresses weeds, provides organic matter, moderates soil temperature and keeps moisture in the soil during the hot summers.

 

Perennials

The perennials in my garden are herbs (thyme, tarragon, oregano, garden chives, garlic chives, spearmint, lemon balm, horseradish), vegetables (Egyptian walking onions, sweet Egyptian walking onions, potato onions, shallots, garlic, asparagus, sorrel, the fruits (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, Aronia bush, goji berry), and flowers (daylilies, peonies, hydrangeas, daffodils, hellebore, surprise lilies, gladiolas, coreopsis, hollyhocks).  

For herbs, I added creeping thyme and daffodils around all my new beds last year for beauty and vole deterrent and will replant where needed this year.  Planted several varieties of sage to have more for spice mixes.  For edibles, last year I added perennial Alpine strawberries, artichokes, American groundnut, Jerusalem artichokes, and elderberry bushes.

I added new perennial flowers last year-Gold Dust alyssum, more coreopsis, lots and lots of different lavenders, Sweet William, Summer Blues delphinium, Sunrise Lupine, Grace Ward lithodora, Snow in Summer, Paprika yarrow, blue fescue, pink muhly grass, hyacinths, Endless Summer hydrangea,  lime green sedum and David Austin roses.

For those that don't return, I'll try a different variety to find what thrives in my garden conditions.

 

Self-seeders

 There are some self-seeders I can count on and others that are a nice surprise.  The ones guaranteed to pop up are zinnias, amaranths (Love Lies Bleeding and Chinese Bicolor), Cocks comb, carrots, celery, chard, Giant Leaf mustard, purple sprouting broccoli, Hummingbird vine, Morning glory, Red Malabar spinach, and Giant Blue Feather lettuce.  I will also get different varieties of other lettuces popping up here and there and usually Chinese Hilton cabbage.

This year, I will sow self-seeding flowers like zinnias, Snow in Summer, and cock's comb on our hillside that is too steep to mow to add color, pollinators and seeds for birds.

 

Edible stand bys

Beans-Chinese Red Noodle, Taiwan Black and Yancheng green yard long pole snap beans, 1500 Year Old bean vine on one trellis and Christmas speckles lima beans around another trellis

Plant with Hummingbird vine and Red Malabar spinach with it.

Urizun Japanese winged bean in a pot as it loves the heat, if needed brought in 1 to overwinter

Okra-Red Burgundy (2 in the garden bed)

10 tomato plants-large paste (Italian Red Pear), slicers (5’ Cherokee Purple and an orange/yellow), a small fruit (Chocolate Pear), Long Keeper storage tomato, TV Brandywine, an early variety like Rubee Dawn, and Tropic VFN and Mannon Majesty from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange that are disease and heat resistant

4 eggplant-AO Daimura, Antigua or Rotanda Bianca or Rosa, Shiromaru or Amadeo, Qi YeRound (in pots)

4 cucumber-Aonaga Jibai, White Heron, Shintokiwa and Poinsett 76 that are disease resistant

1 summer squash-Trombetta since it is resistant to vine borer, disease and squash bugs

2 winter squash-Butternut and fun other one

Perennial onions-potato onion type, sweet and white Egyptian Walking onions

Garlic and Shallots-Hardneck garlic, Elephant garlic and shallots

Potatoes-Purple from true seed and Yukon Gold in the potato boxes

Snow peas in pots with peppers and eggplants

Dragon Tail radish in pot by sprouting broccoli

Cabbage-Hilton Chinese cabbage (2 plants) and 2 Savoy Perfection

Spring Greens-Lettuce (Royal Oakleaf, Grand Rapids, Butter King, Bronze Beauty, Celtic, Forellenschluss, Romaine, Giant Blue Feather, Yedikule, Red Sails) and spinach in pots

Summer Greens-Orach, Amaranth, Chard-Perpetual Spinach and Fordhook, Chinese Multicolor Spinach, Purple Stardust Iceplant, Komatsuna, Giant Leaf mustard, New Zealand spinach in pot

Herbs-Dill, Basil (Nunum, Genovese, Cardinal), Cilantro, Lion's Ear, Rosemary, Parsley, Garden Sage, Chervil, Pink Celery, Multicolor Sage, marjoram, rosemary

Sweet and hot peppers-overwintered Chiltepin, Jigsaw and Baklouti hot pepper plants, and 3 sweet pepper plants (Doe Hill Golden Bell storage, burgundy from save seed, Nadapeno)

Strawberries-will restart Alpine varieties Mignonette and Regina as they did not make it through the summer last year.

Cantaloupe-Tigger melon, Prescott Fond Blanc

 

New Varieties to Try

Fruit-New Hanover and Mary’s Niagara ground cherry, Kiwi Blue honeywort, rabbit eye blueberry bush

Summer greens-new varieties of amaranth (Beetroot, Callaloo), Feaster Family Heirloom sweet mustard greens, Silver Ocean mertensia, Jewels of Opar

Flowers-buy short flame cock’s comb plants to interplant with marigolds around front of beds, Baby Blue Eyes, Baby Blue Bouquet eucalyptus, Red Raven celosia, Copper Spotted petunias from seed, Raspberry Daiquiri Agastache from seed

Herbs-start Ginseng from seed, SimplyHerbs rosemary from seed, Irene rosemary plant

Tomatoes, cucumbers and beans-have included a few new ones in the top list of standbys to try that are disease and heat resistant since our summers are getting increasingly hot.  Will buy a large potted Better Boy tomato in May from the local nursery for early tomatoes.

Corn-bought some heirloom types of corn that are good to make flour from as well as fresh eating (Cherokee Gourdseed, Cherokee White Flour).  Not sure I will try them this year but is on my list for “soon”.

Squash-bought a disease and squash bug resistant summer squash Zapallito del Tronco that I may plant and 4 winter squashes that are also disease and squash bug resistant Musquee de Maroc, Buttercup, Canada Crookneck, Thai Kang Kob

Lawn alternative mixes-EcoEase Microclover (fine fescue and clover) and Fescue Lawn Mix and Alternative Lawn seed mix that has clover, flowers, and fine fescues in it.

I will also need to thin my Hummingbird vines, Morning Glory vines, celery, Red Malabar spinach and Giant mustard plants out as they come up next year.

 

I have to be stern with myself about what I will not plant.  In the past 5 years, I planted much less than usual and had plenty for fresh eating and preserving.  My eyes are always bigger than my space or need!!