Emperor's new crop: the case for leeks

The Roman emperor, Nero, liked leek soup. It might be the only good thing that can be said about him. Vichyssoise. Born not in France, but in the steamy cookhouses of 1st-century Rome. For first-time veg gardeners, leeks are a good choice. They are easy to grow and you don't even need a proper veg patch. The steel blue ribbons of foliage are surprisingly good set among tall waving heads of purple Verbena bonariensis. You could plant rows of leeks to pierce through a ferny blanket of the yellow daisy, Bidens aurea, or use them to paint stripes of blue across a golden patch of marigolds. If you don't eat them all, they'll provide great globular seedheads as good as any allium.






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