The Château de Villandry garden in the Loire Valley

Leave it to the French to do everything more beautiful, more chic, more manicured. Do those gay Parisian wome let anything run wild, besides their libidos? Yes, but this Chef’s Kitchen garden at The Château de Villandry garden in the Loire Valley does not look like a wanton French woman.

Designer Karen Rogers explains to the Financial Times how kitchen gardening is really catching on.

“The interest in decorative vegetables is widespread. People now want to grow their own food on such a scale that their garden (if it is attached to a small townhouse, for instance) is often dominated by edibles. Why not? The allotment can look as pretty as the rose garden and attractive vegetables can be grown in borders amid the flowers. Once upon a time if vegetables were labelled “ornamental” it meant they were grown for looking at, not eating; nowadays people want them to be ornamental and edible.”

Kitchen Gardens were also big stars at this month’s Royal Horticultural Society’s Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in London. The Growing Tastes Allotment Garden won the prize for Best in Show. (See brief guided tour of allotment garden.)

The Growing Tastes Kitchen Allotment Garden, RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower ShowSmart Sensuality could become the new theme in gardens. I could see a chaise lounge or two, installed at The Château de Villandry above. Or some bedtime edibles installed in Niki Palmer’s Enchanting Escape garden which won the People’s Favorite prize at Hampton’s Court.

Now this Niki Palmer’s Enchanting Escape creation au naturel is Anne’s version of a first-rate installation of flower beds. Behind every artifice of manicured formality, is a natural sensuality begging for release.

Absolutely gorgeous! If I weren’t so modest, I would move right into this garden. Anne

Niki Palmer’s Enchanting Escape at Hampton Court Palace Flower ShowFor more about kitchen gardening, read on: Financial Times Edible and elegant.