we planted the Oz garden with corn and lots of zinnias. It sure was a lot of fun but by early September we were ready for the main event— ”The Rainbow Oz Garden”. Out came the corn and zinnias and in went the cool-season vegetables. I designed color-matched beds on both sides of the yellow brick road and placed the shortest plants next to the road and the tallest the furthest away. Unlike the plot at Hidden Villa, no plants were very tall so planting them at the garden’s northern end was not an issue. I chose edible flowers of clear, bright, solid colors to fill in the beds; they also gave the garden and my salads a festive look.
Both the summer and winter Oz gardens became a neighborhood institution—a part of Sunday family strolls More than once I saw some of the kids skip down the path on their way to school. Delivery people said it was the favorite address on their route; joggers and walkers told me they found them selves drawn to the street. The most fun, though, was picking baskets of those colorful vegetables and flowers and laying them out in their glory for all of us to admire.
The scarecrow sits between the yellow and orange rows of the Creasy Oz rainbow vegetable garden. His harvest includes the many colors of ‘Bright Lights’ Swiss chard, ‘Burpee’s Golden’ beets, ‘Detroit Dark Red’ beets, ‘Stockton’ red onions, garlic, ‘Easter Egg’ radishes, and ‘Danver’s Half Long’ carrots. Behind him a broccoli plant flowers, attracting beneficial insects to keep the pests under control.
Red Rows
2- to 3-foot plants
‘Ruby’ chard ‘Detroit Dark Red’ beets
‘Stockton Red’ onions
‘General Eisenhower’ red tulips
Plants under one foot
‘Juliet’ red lettuce
‘Telstar Crimson’ dianthus
‘Red Empress’ nasturtiums
Orange Rows
2- to 3-foot plants
‘Bright Lights’ orange chard
‘Danvers Half Long’ orange carrots
‘Royal Chantenay’ orange carrots
‘Orange Sun’ orange tulips
‘Pacific Beauty’ orange calendulas
Plants under one foot
‘Orange Crystal Bowl’ violas
Yellow Rows
2- to 3-foot plants
‘Bright Lights’ yellow chard
‘Burpee’s Golden’ beets
‘Pacific Giant’ yellow calendulas
‘Garant’ yellow tulips
‘Yellow Sweet Spanish’ onions
Plants under one foot
Golden sage
Golden lemon thyme
‘Yellow Crystal Bowl’ violas
Green Rows
2- to 3-foot plants
‘Premium Crop’ broccoli
‘De Cicco’ broccoli
‘Romy’ fennel
Plants under one foot
‘Nevada’ crisp-head lettuce
‘Nordic II’ spinach
‘Tres Fine Maraichere’ endive
‘Triple Curled’ parsley
Purple/Blue Rows
2- to 3-foot plants
‘Osaka Purple’ Japanese mustard
‘All Blue’ potatoes
‘Tokyo Mix’ ornamental cabbages
‘Attila’ purple tulips
‘Purplette’ scallions
Plants under one foot
‘Easter Egg’ radishes
Johnny-jump-ups
‘Blue Princess’ violas
‘King Henry’ purple violas
interview
Renee Shepherd
Renee Shepherd and I have been friends and colleagues for years. Both of us are fascinated with colorful vegetables. Researching this book gave me the excuse to ask her to share her views. “Before I even get them in the kitchen I enjoy these vivid vegetables,” Renee began. “Picking a basket filled with many colors is beautiful. Food in vibrant colors is more exciting. I enjoy simple cooking. And simple dishes made with diverse colors seem more complex. For example, if I cook up green snap beans and sprinkle them with crumbled feta cheese, it’s interesting. However, if I cook both yellow and green snap beans together, the recipe becomes exciting.”
“Then there is the satisfaction of growing all these special exotics from seeds,” Renee continued. “Growing three varieties of a vegetable instead of one extends my interest in the crop. It’s like taking a theme and adding a variation. I find it hard to imagine why someone wouldn’t want to grow vegetables in many colors.”
Renee is the owner of a new seed company, Renee’s Garden. Her seed packets are perfect for the rainbow gardener. For instance, she offers a trio of cayenne peppers in one package: a purple variety, a red pepper, and a yellow one. The beets come in three colors as do the tomatoes, zucchini, snap beans, bell peppers, lettuces, etc. So the gardener doesn’t need to buy three different seed packages of the same vegetable to get the rainbow effect. Further, the gardener needn’t research whether the vegetables will ripen at the same time. Renee has done all the work for you.
“I was flying cross-country when the idea came to me,” Renee
