The classic French potager is the ultimate romantic landscape: an orderly parade of abundance with vegetables and flowers combined to elevate food growing to a new level. Potagers are often beautiful enough to rival any intricate knot garden or parterre. This is high-level ornamental design, with elements of both prettiness and practicality that can easily be borrowed for a domestic garden. One of the most famous historic potagers is at Chateau de Villandry in France, where rows of spectacular vegetables are planted in rhythmic, geometric patterns, punctuated by roses and other flowers and bordered by low evergreen hedging.
Traditionally, 17th-century potagers were divided into
