Just because something is practical does not mean it has to be boring.
Vegetables are often attractive plants.
Their mixture of leaf colors and textures add beauty to the staid vegetable garden. Ornamental vegetable gardening is not a new idea. Potagers, or decorative kitchen gardens, were a part of the elaborate gardens at Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV in the 1600's. Today, Rosemary Verey, an English author of gardening books, and other famous gardeners still add ornamental interest to their vegetable gardens through the skillful blending of vegetables and herbs with varying textures and colors to create garden tapestries. Potagers are often geometric in layout.