As I wandered through the vegetable garden at Tower Hill Botanical Garden last night, I was thinking about how satisfying it is to be in a lovely kitchen garden. These veggie plots are not only functional but are emotionally and visually pleasing. So what makes a vegetable garden beautiful?

Tower Hill’s vegetable garden is made even more pleasing by the shed and colorful plant supports. But that’s only the icing on the cake.

The same principles of garden design that apply to perennial gardens are also applicable to a places where edibles are grown.

Large groups are more striking than one of these and one of those, and odd numbers of plants are more appealing.

Structures such as fences, sheds, benches and ornaments provide the solid surfaces that contrast with all the textured foliage.

The fence provides a visual frame around the veggie garden art.

A variety of colors and textures of leaves are always attractive. Alternate foliage shades of blue, light green, and dark green through the garden

Veggie gardens don’t have to be planted in long, straight rows that all run in the same direction.

Perhaps the single most important component for creating a beautiful vegetable garden isn’t how the plants are placed, but how they are maintained. A well tended, edited and deadheaded garden is always more attractive than one that has gone to weeds.

A lovely kitchen garden?