Colourful cabbages bring home bacon

At Niagara Falls last December, running around to keep warm as one does, I was stopped in my tracks by a municipal flower bed planted with ornamental cabbage and kale.

At Niagara Falls last December, running around to keep warm as one does, I was stopped in my tracks by a municipal flower bed planted with ornamental cabbage and kale. In Ireland, ornamental Brassica oleracea took a knock when Helen Dillon wrote about them in her gardening column.

“Frilly monstrosities,” was her verdict. “The proper place for a cabbage is on a plate with corned beef and not in a front garden.” One ...