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Have you planted your Chioggia beets yet? How about your Minowase radishes? Trophy perennials are well and good, but you can't tuck into them.

Growing incredible edibles is the latest style statement for the eco-conscious set - a response to the trend to eat local, not to mention growing fears about global food security.

"People are worried about where their food is coming from," says Sara Jameson of Sweetpea's, a garden boutique in Toronto's trendy Roncesvalles Village. "In general, people are trying to be healthier, and growing your own vegetables is one way to do it." Although Jameson focuses on florals, she brought in a collection of heirloom vegetable seeds this season from California-based Renee's Garden - and was astonished at how quickly they sold out.

"There were people spending $100 or more on seeds. Heirloom anything is big - heirloom tomatoes, heirloom lettuces, heirloom runner beans. They are absolutely stunning."

With so many celebrity chefs waxing poetic about their heritage wax beans, it's no wonder that home gardeners aren't just digging veggies, but raising the aesthetic bar, too.

Take the Culinary Couture collection from West Virginia-based Hort Couture. Its luscious wares include the aforementioned Chioggia beets (which feature candy-striped flesh) and Minowase radishes (a sweet version from Japan).

The new green chic is also feeding a trend in consumer products. IKEA, for instance, just launched the Torva collection of veggie-themed textiles, bedding and toys. "The future of our global garden lies in very small hands," the company says, explaining that children can learn about cultivation and sustainability through play.

In Paris, the hot new fragrance brand Honoré de Prés offers an organic scent called J'aime les Carottes, which really does smell like the root vegetables. It shouldn't be confused with the organic skin-care line called Yes to Carrots, which really is made from carrots. The San Francisco company's collections also include Yes to Tomatoes, Yes to Cucumbers and Yes to Baby Carrots.

In North America, there's a brisk business in collecting vintage produce labels from the early 20th century, when humble wares were tarted up with graphic, now-coveted imagery. On etsy.com, you can buy original French seed labels from the 1920s, suitable for framing, with artful images of chicorée frisée fine or céleri plein blanc doré.

The European approach to edible gardening has an aesthetic all its own, exemplified by the Belgian boutique brand Secrets du Potager. Launched in 2003, it's aimed at "a perfumed revival" of the potager, the small-scale kitchen garden that elegantly combines flowers, herbs and vegetables.

The potager model is making inroads in Canada, too. Jameson says she encourages clients to integrate veggies right into their perennial beds. "With the gorgeous textures and lush colours in the foliage of veggies, why not make them part of a garden's design?"

There's one problem, though. "Sometimes clients have invested so much time in their beautiful vegetables, they don't want to eat them."

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