Colorful vegetables are fantastic to add interest and beauty to your garden! Stop planting the same boring vegetables, and grow a rainbow of colors in your garden this year! You’ll find tons of options to get started on this list of colorful veggies to plant.
A vegetable garden doesn’t have to purely functional, it can be beautiful too. Every year, I strive to create a colorful vegetable garden plan so that my veggie garden will look just as pretty as my flower gardens!
There are tons of colorful vegetables to grow in your garden, and it’s always fun to try something new! You might just be surprised to learn that some of your favorite crops come in different colors too. So you’ll never need to compromise.
This colorful veggies list has something for everyone. You might even find some new stuff to grow in your garden this year! Have some fun adding tons of color to your vegetable garden.
How To Add Color To Your Vegetable Garden
Tucking annual flowers like marigolds, zinnias, and alyssum into the beds is one way to add color in the veggie garden.
Vegetable garden flowers not only add color, they also help to attract pollinators to your garden. Flowers are wonderful companion plants to help deter pests from the garden too.
Annual flowers are essential in my veggie garden, but I don’t want them to take up too much precious growing space. So, I also plant in as many colorful vegetables as I can too.
What Vegetables Come In Different Colors?
I’m always looking for new varieties of crops I can grow that will add color to my garden. There are tons of colorful vegetables out there that add a rainbow of hues, and are delicious too.
Most new gardeners don’t know this, but many of the basic vegetables come in different colors! Varieties of our favorites, like colorful carrots, purple cauliflower, yellow beans, white radishes and rainbow corn have been around for a long time.
These colorful varieties are super popular these days, so they’re very easy to find. Which makes it simple to grow the crops we’re familiar with, and add some fun color to our garden at the same time. Win, win!
List Of Colorful Vegetables To Grow
When it comes to choosing the best colorful veggies to grow in your garden, there’s no lack of options! Almost any vegetable that you want to grow comes in a non-traditional color. But to get you started, here are some of my favorites…
1. Purple Vegetables
I’ll start the list off with some very common purple vegetables. A few of the most common are cauliflower, peas, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, sweet potatoes, cabbage, and tomatillo. Purple veggies are especially popular with the kiddos!
2. Radishes
Though traditional radishes add bright pops of red to the garden, they come in mix of colors too! From white to yellow, pink, orange, purple, dark red, and even black – radishes are beautiful.
3. Swiss chard
Chard is not only delicious and easy to grow, it comes in rainbow of colors – red, orange, yellow, dark purple, pink, and even white.
Some varieties are so bright they’re almost neon! If you’re looking to add color to the vegetable garden, then the Bright Lights mix is definitely a must.
4. Herbs
Though not technically a vegetable, herbs come in tons of different colors that you can add to the garden.
Purple basil, yellow marjoram, tricolor sage, white sage, red mustard, chartreuse mint, and variegated herbs are all excellent options. Herbs also flower, which will add even more color to the garden.
5. Lettuce
Another one of the most colorful vegetables, lettuce is the perfect addition to any garden. It comes in a wonderful mix of colors and textures, which also add interest to the garden.
If you’re looking for the reds and pinks, Valentine Mesclun, red leaf French Redina and Romaine Rouge D’Hiver are great.
6. Peppers
I’m sure you’re familiar with green, red and yellow bell peppers, but did you know they also come in an array of other hues?
There are tons of other types of peppers too, not just bell peppers, and they come in just about any color imaginable. Even black and variegated peppers! Learn how to grow peppers here.
7. Beets
If you’ve never thought about growing beets in your garden before, you definitely should. Not only are they delicious, they’re gorgeous colorful veggies too!
Plus, they add fantastic pops of bright color in the vegetable garden! Beets come in a wide range of colors – purple, orange, white, dark red… you name it!
8. Beans
Whether you choose to grow bush varieties or climbers, beans are a staple for most gardeners. Trade in your boring green beans for the more colorful varieties of yellow and purple, or maybe even some multi-colored beans! How fun!
9. Kohlrabi
If you’ve never tried growing kohlrabi before, I highly recommend it. Kohlrabi is yummy and easy to grow, plus it’s really pretty. Purple kohlrabi is very bright, and has beautiful stems and leaves too.
10. Carrots
There’s no denying that traditional bright orange carrots really stand out in the garden. But did you know that carrots come in a rainbow of colors?
Surprise your party guests this summer by serving red, yellow, white and purple carrots on your veggie tray. Trust me, it’s a big hit!
11. Radicchio
Though it’s not the most common vegetable to grow, radicchio is a great choice for adding color in the veggie garden.
It’s easy to grow, and quick to harvest too, which means you can make room for even more colorful vegetables later on!
12. Okra
The thing I love the most about growing okra is that it’s a double winner. The okra harvest is wonderful, but it also grows gorgeous flowers.
Red burgundy has dark colored stems and fruit, which adds fantastic color. But the green okra also has gorgeous flowers.
13. Squash and gourds
If you want to grow weird and colorful veggies, you can’t beat gourds and squash. There are so many great types of squash to choose from, and some really funky gourds too.
A few of my favorites are yellow zucchini, butternut, delicata, yellow or white pattypan, and multi-colored acorn squash.
14. Onions
Another staple in the garden, and it’s just as easy to grow yellow ones as it is white and red.
You could even toss in a mix of red shallots, scallions, and yellow or red cipollinis for an even more exciting mix. Learn how to grow onions here.
15. Kale
One of my absolute favorites, kale is so pretty! Plus it grows equally well in cold or hot weather, so it’ll add gorgeous color from spring through fall.
Kale comes in a variety of colors and textures, you can’t really go wrong. Be sure to mix some blue kale with frilly purple and also red kale, my favorite combos!
Growing colorful vegetables in your garden is fun and beautiful! Spice things up this year by adding a rainbow of hues to your veggie garden. I challenge you to create a colorful vegetable garden plan, and see how many of these crops you can grow.
Up next: Growing Vegetables: The Ultimate Vegetable Garden Guide
More About Vegetable Gardening
- 17 Easy Vegetables To Grow In Your Garden
- 15 Fast Growing Vegetables To Plant In Your Garden
- 40+ Vegetables That Grow In Shade
- How To Decide What To Plant In A Vegetable Garden
Share your favorite colorful vegetables in the comments below.
Claudia says
Hi Amy,
I planted 2 “squash” plants and they are taking over my garden and smothering other things. I am trying to train them vertically but it continues to grown along the garden. Is it okay to remove some of the leaves without hurting the plant. I need any HELP you can give.
thanks,
Claudia
Amy Andrychowicz says
Sure, you could remove some of the leaves, but don’t remove too many or it could harm the plant. It might be just as much work to do that as it is to continue to train them to grow vertically. Maybe you need a taller vertical support. Once my squash vines start growing up my squash arch, it’s pretty easy to keep the tame by just tucking in the vines as they grow (I do this a couple times a week or so). Here’s more info… How To Grow Squash Vertically.
Laura says
Well, peppers are my favorite colored veggie. I plant the colored varieties and read many times over to leave them on the plant and they’ll turn into reds, oranges and yellows.
At least that’s what supposed to happen in my perfect world. I end up with green peppers with a few red blotches/streaks. What to do? Do I just leave them up even longer hoping the whole pepper will change color?
Also plant marigolds for color and I’ve also read they help with pest control. And even if they don’t, they add a pop of color. Since I live in the burbs, I need to think about curb appeal so the neighbors don’t get too annoyed over my ever-expanding garden.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, eventually the whole bell pepper will change color and be much sweeter. I guess it depends on how long you want to wait. Our growing season is very short here in Minnesota, so many of our bell peppers are still green by the end of the season. Bell peppers are slow to mature.
Marigolds are great for deterring pests, and also attracting beneficial insects to pollinate and eat the bad bugs. I line my gardens with marigolds every year, they are my favorite vegetable garden flowers!