What flowers are good to plant in a small courtyard
Main text introduction: This article introduces the best flowers and plants suitable for small courtyards, focusing on greenery and floral arrangements. The site editor will introduce them to netizens next.
Having a small courtyard, how to reasonably arrange for vegetable gardening and flower planting? Especially when the courtyard is small, planting flowers is beautiful but seems somewhat wasteful. If only vegetables are planted and not flowers, it's not satisfying. Some plants can both produce flowers and be edible, making them very suitable for courtyard planting. Today, I recommend five plants that can bloom or be ornamental with leaves, and their roots can also be eaten, achieving a dual benefit.
Jerusalem Artichoke
Jerusalem artichoke, are you familiar with it? In the past, when there wasn't much vegetables at home, pickled Jerusalem artichoke was a main dish in winter. Jerusalem artichoke propagates and grows quickly, with tall plants that can bloom yellow flowers similar to chrysanthemums in summer and autumn, which look very beautiful. If you have a courtyard, you can plant a cluster of Jerusalem artichoke, enjoy the flowers in summer, and dig out some roots in autumn to pickle or marinate, which is very nice.
Notes
Jerusalem artichoke can grow quite tall, so it can be planted around the courtyard wall. This not only doesn't affect the growth of other plants but also looks good. Jerusalem artichoke is a rhizomatous plant; if the roots are not completely dug up in the first year, it will grow again the next year, reproducing a new batch. Therefore, when digging every year, don't dig everything up, leave a few roots, and you can enjoy fresh Jerusalem artichoke every year.
Edible Lily
Planting edible lilies in the courtyard is also excellent. Although their flowers are not as good as ornamental lilies, their vibrant colors and fragrant scent make them better than many common flowers and plants. The roots of edible lilies are edible, and after enjoying the flowers in summer, you can dig up the roots in autumn to stir-fry, cook porridge, or make cold dishes, which taste very tender. A friend once planted a patch of edible lilies in the courtyard, and in autumn, they harvested a full basket, dried the excess into lily powder, and it was enough for the family to eat for half a year without any processing or chemical additives.
What flowers are good to plant in a small courtyard
Notes
After the edible lilies bloom, cut off the withered flowers promptly, leave healthy stems and leaves, and fertilize once a week to make the underground bulbs expand quickly. Fertilization mainly focuses on compound fertilizer and phosphorus-potassium fertilizer. When the leaves and stems turn yellow in autumn, you can harvest them. If you don't fertilize after flowering, the bulbs will be small, and there will be less edible parts. Some friends also plant edible lilies in flowerpots, and it's fine too. Since lilies require little space to grow, a slightly larger pot with proper care can produce large bulbs.
Elephant Foot Yam
Elephant foot yam, also known as pagoda vegetable, ground silkworm, or earth ginseng, is called screw vegetable in our hometown. Its roots are edible and taste crisp and delicious, and many people use it to make pickled vegetables. In some restaurants, the small pickled vegetables served before the main dishes are elephant foot yam. The leaves of elephant foot yam are similar to mint, and it blooms small purple flowers in summer, which also have ornamental value. Like Jerusalem artichoke, elephant foot yam can be planted once and harvested for many years, with part of the roots dug out each year and the rest left to grow and reproduce the next year.
Notes
The propagation speed of elephant foot yam is very fast, so when planting in the courtyard, don't plant too much at once, or you won't be able to finish eating it, and it will grow everywhere, affecting the normal use of the courtyard. The paler and fatter the roots, the better they taste. Therefore, during the growing period, it should also be fertilized frequently to promote root growth. Don't just plant it and ignore it, waiting to harvest in autumn.