A glut of courgette/zucchini

I also think vegetables can grow in the flower beds. I used to do a lot of that.

I'm another who likes the idea of growing edibles and ornamentals mixed. I think it's known as kitchen gardening.

A few years ago I tried it in containers. I had alpine strawberries and those tiny blue and white flowers that I can't think of the name of right now mixed.... and in each alternate container, I had the dwarf Purple Queen beans and nasturiums mixed.

I think they would have looked gorgeous if they'd done better. Unfortunately the containers were up on the walls and difficult to water and got too dry for the plants to be very happy.

I might try the same mixes again though, now that you've reminded me of it :)

Perhaps I might try growing courgettes too, but I only get through about 1 or 2 a week as I'm on my own. My dad grows loads of them, you'd think maybe he could visit more often and keep me supplied :D

Have you tried courgette cake? I had it on holiday once and it's a little like carrot cake, I think. It was nice, anyway :)

Companion gardening is good, a wigwam of runner beans amongst the flowers looks good and it can also attract the bees, also good, never grown Courgettes as we don't like them so sorry cannot help you with that one...

I often grow sweet peas and runner beans together. they look good too.

sorry don't eat courgettes.

I was small in the 1940s and well remember how the flower beds in the parks were edged with carrot and beetroot - it looked very decorative. Sorry no courgette suggestions though as they are not a favourite veg. A pity really as they are very rewarding to grow!

Thank you for the replies, everyone. Pamelaanne, yes, kitchen gardening. I'm a bit of a kitchen witch, really. :-) It's why I love the potager method so much. And I reckon your courgette cake is much the same as my courgette bread. It's very similar to carrot cake but I bake it in a loaf tin rather than cake tin. Much like making banana bread, you feel much more virtuous about yourself if you call it bread rather than cake! Haha!

Lovely speaking to y'all! It's rainy today, which, as a gardener, I can't complain about. As a person who is visiting the Tower of London with children today, I most definitely WILL moan!

haha bread cake, yes probably the same thing.

I make banana "bread" a lot too, and it's definitely a sweet one.

I keep typing break instead of bread... mind you I am making a lot of other typos too and correcting as I go along. Been out shopping and it's 3pm and I've not had lunch yet and I'm tired....

I hope you will enjoy the Tower a lot more than you are expecting to. I never found it the most exciting place to go, even as a child, but I think it depends who you are with and how interestingly the history is explained as you go round it.

I took my baby brother to the London Dungeon when he was only about 6! I was only about 19 myself. After I became a mum at 23 there was no way I would think that appropriate for such a young child but at 19 all I thought was that it was fun. He didn't seem to mind all the horror, anyway.

I took my own kids there when they were 16 and 17. Had to hold my daughter's hand on the boat ride bit lol she was scared of the dark.

Are you living in London, or just visiting? We used to live there until 24 years ago then moved to Suffolk where we all are now although we are not in the same household anymore. I/we have been back and visited several times but not now for several years. My last time was just for a day about 3 years ago when I had a clinic appointment there and mooched around the area for a while afterwards to make the most of the day. It was fun racing through the British Museum in half an hour flat just before it closed - and in a wheelchair! :D Then people-watching in a bar with my friend who was with me. And we looked at an art exhibition too before coming home.

I've gone very off-topic. There was a nice garden we walked through to get to the museum and the bar from the clinic :D

When I visited with my kids, we really liked walking in Kensington Gardens, and especially liked the Diana Memorial. We also used to love visiting Covent Garden, and Holland Park, and Ravenscourt Park.

I'm American bu have lived in England for 13 1/2 years now. My husband is British. We're here for the long haul. :-) Because my husband works in the City, it's hard to get him up there. I love London and would visit more regularly if he didn't moan, lol.

The Tower was good. We're all history buffs so I love the monuments in this country. We went with my husband's eldest daughter and her family. There was a really cool reenactment which we all enjoyed.