Kitchen gardens, or potagers, are wondrous places where edible gardens are combined with flowering plants for beauty. For centuries these gardens have offered a readily available source of fruit, vegetables and herbs within easy reach of the kitchen. Today people are rediscovering the benefits of kitchen gardens — not only as a source of fresh, local food, but also as a way to add interest, and even beauty, to the landscape.

I recently got to see the kitchen gardens at the University of Tennessee, where raised beds of vegetables are surrounded by vines laden with berries, aromatic herbs and colorful flowers. Come with me and see the wonderful things growing in this kitchen garden and get ideas for creating your own. Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting A row of beautiful flowers growing in rather unconventional containers, galvanized trash cans, greets you on your way into the garden. Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting Tulips, pansies, violas and lilies-of-the-valley look beautiful in spite of their digs. The flowers really stand out when grouped together in containers of differing heights.

To create your own trash can planter:

1. Drill five or six drainage holes on the bottom of the trash can.
2. Fill the bottom half of the can with empty 2-liter soda bottles to help fill up empty space and conserve potting soil.
3. Add potting soil and plants.

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting Garbage cans aren't the only unique places where plants are growing in this garden. The bed of this old, rusty truck serves as the perfect planter. Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting Potatoes do very well when grown in containers — even in an old truck bed. Plant them in good-quality potting mix and apply an all-purpose organic fertilizer. This unorthodox bed will soon yield a nice harvest of potatoes.

Houzz guide to growing potatoes Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting Behind a fence laden with blackberries and raspberries you can catch a glimpse of the wonders that await you inside the kitchen garden. Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting Numerous raised beds containing fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers greet you at the entrance. The flowers are pretty, but they also attract pollinators to the garden, and some, such as nasturtiums and violas, are edible.

Discover more about companion planting Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting The leafy greens in this raised bed don't just taste delicious; they are also quite attractive in their contrasting colors. Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting Swiss chard can just as easily be planted for the beauty of the colorful stalks, instead of as food. But thankfully you can have both. Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting A variety of herbs are grown along the inside fence of the kitchen garden. Flowering chives, creeping thyme and oregano are just a few that you will find surrounding the kitchen garden.

More guides to growing herbs Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting At first glance this raised bed appears to be filled with weeds, but if you take a closer look, you will find that there is more to the story. What appears to be a weed is actually a plant called hairy vetch, which serves as a cover crop. Cover crops are planted during the time between vegetable crops because they add nitrogen to the soil.

Hairy vetch can be planted in late summer and then plowed underneath the soil in spring. It will break down, adding nitrogen to the soil and making it ready for a new crop of vegetables. Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting Flowers, fruits and herbs combine to create this vertical garden, one of the newest gardening trends. Purple 'Wave' petunias, orange pansies, rosemary, thyme and strawberries make for a beautiful living wall. Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting Another popular gardening trend is square-foot vegetable gardening, which maximizes the amount of vegetables you can grow in a small amount of space.

More ways to grow edibles in small spaces Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting New plant introductions are always exciting to hear about. What is even better is when you get to see them for yourselves. This 'Toscana' strawberry plant has beautiful red flowers. Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting Catmint can be used as both an herb and an ornamental perennial in the garden. This newest introduction, 'Purple Haze', has beautiful flowers. Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting This handmade compost bin looks almost pretty with its purple coat of paint, don't you think? Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting If you have never seen an artichoke plant in person, you might be surprised by how large it is. Artichokes are another example of an edible plant that can be used as an ornamental plant. If artichokes aren't your favorite vegetable, you can allow them to form large, beautiful flowers instead. Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting Beans are beginning their upward ascent along this bamboo trellis. Of course, you can purchase a fancy trellis if you like, but trellises don't have to be fancy; you can create one easily by tying together sticks or tree branches with twine. Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting Did you know that lettuce loves garlic? It's true. The garlic planted through the middle of this raised bed helps to keep bad bugs away from the leaf lettuce.

Kitchen gardens are a wonderful way to grow a variety of edible plants in a beautiful garden setting. All you need are a few of your favorite fruits and vegetables, an herb or two and some flowering annuals. Plant them in a large container, in a raised bed or even in the ground, and enjoy.