Want a Real ROI? These Six Plants Make Up a High-Margin Garden

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- GENOVESE BASIL

This versatile, easy-growing herb is ideal for topping a margherita pizza, but it can also add some pesto panache to a mac and cheese.

The ROI: Woodier herbs such as sage or rosemary are shrubs, taking up a lot of space for the single sprig or two you use at a time. A few bushy basil plants will supply you with plentiful leaves.

Timing: From seed, after about 40 days in a sunny spot, it will keep producing until the fall.

Or go bigger: Lettuce Leaf basil has broad and milder-flavored leaves you can employ as casing for Vietnamese-style lettuce wraps (bun cha) with pork meatballs.

RAINBOW CARROTS

When it comes to root vegetables, most of the action is underground, but you can make the wait worthwhile with a colorful reveal. They have cool flowers—provided no Peter Rabbits come a-nibbling.

The ROI: The taproot isn’t the only edible part. The tops make an outstanding stand-in for parsley in a gremolata or salsa verde.

Timing: From seed to table, it takes about 50 to 60 days for the fastest carrot varieties, such as the French heirloom Little Finger. Slower ones like the Kaleidoscope mix take about 75 days.

Pickle this: Use the Black Nebula, a gorgeous dark purple specimen, for bloody mary garnishes—they turn hot pink in vinegar brine.

SUGAR SNAP PEAS

Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow, as the song goes, but as you or I or anyone know … of those, kids really just want peas.

The ROI: Pods are preceded by fragrant white blossoms pretty enough to grace even the best-appointed dinner table. You can also use the tendrils for a delicious stir-fry.

Timing: Sowing to harvesting takes about 60-70 days, making it a fast-growing veggie for fickle gardeners.

Add more color: Purple-podded Sugar Magnolia is as sweet and crisp as any snap pea on the snack tray, but it’s distinctive enough to class up crudités platters and late-spring salads.

CHESTER BLACKBERRIES

It’s thornless, which means giant, flavorful berries without the pain.

The ROI: Plant two or three canes along a fence or trellis, and you’ll never have to buy blackberries again. They freeze well and make luscious jams and preserves.

Timing: Plants in gallon-size pots should produce from late July through October.

Grab a drink: Muddle Chester blackberries with sliced jalapeño and a pinch of sugar, then strain and add a squeeze of lime and your favorite añejo tequila for an exquisite margarita.

RED ZEBRA TOMATOES

You’re probably going to grow a tomato anyway. Might as well get one that looks as if it’s covered in flames.

The ROI: Once the plant begins setting fruit, it’s like the little (fire) engine that could: Expect lots of luscious 2-inch tomatoes.

Timing: About 75 days from seed to the first harvest. But once they’re on, tomatoes can keep coming until Halloween or first freeze, whichever comes first.

Go nuclear: An even more striking small tomato (rare even in farmers markets) is the stripe-adelic Brad’s Atomic Grape, which produces sweet, technicolor-purple tomatoes.

GRAY MAMMOTH SUNFLOWERS

Overshadowing everything in the garden, these sunflowers come with Seussian blooms 2 feet across.

The ROI: In addition to their height, these astounding 10-foot-tall plants can act as a living trellis between rows of beans or other vining plants.

Timing: It takes 80-120 days for the sunflower seeds to mature enough to eat, but the flowers come weeks earlier.

For contrast: Interplant them with umber-mahogany Chocolate Cherry and Black Magic varieties to give your garden a gothic edge—and a stunning cut flower.

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