Ideas for non-toxic, perennials (kid-friendly)?

I'm dreaming of this year's garden...and looking for ideas for non-toxic plants. Perennials preferred. Plants will be going in a border garden along our garage. The garden will be east facing and at the top of a slope. My kids (toddlers) love to help in the garden, so plants that are OK to taste are a must. Non-fussy plants are important too as I spend most of my time in the garden saving plants from little feet, and putting soil back where it goes after the kids have moved it around.

I would love to hear your recommendations! Other notes: I'm in the Vancouver area. We are always battling the field bindweed in our yard, and aphids were particularly bad last year.

 

Huckleberries and blue berries make nice shrubs and produce good fruit. Herbs can be tough plants for sunny spots and have exciting smells for children to explore.

 

Great ideas! We have a couple of blueberry plants; I think I will consider adding some more! Any herbs in particular that you would recommend?

 

Rosemary is very ornamental. Lavender is nice. Other herbs are nice, those two are more ornamental I think. I like to grow parsley and dill because they are useful. Not as pretty in the planting bed, but the kids would like it and it attracts beneficial insects, caterpillars--educational opportunities.

In terms of bindweed, I just keep pulling it. Eventually you get rid of it without chemicals that way. Takes time (years) but you have to keep at it. Aphids are generally easy to control with strong sprays of water. Aphids are little cloning machines. They are easy to kill though, if you knock them off the plant with a spray of water, they will die.

 

You might be able to keep lemongrass, Cymbopogon citratus. Society garlic, Tulbaghia violacea, is another grassy looking plant that is not toxic. If you don't have hard freezes, these are perennial. And even a light freeze may let them come back from the roots. Also check out Pacific wax myrtle, Myrica californica. I grow relatives of it for the lovely scent and moderately spicy taste. Day lilies, Hemerocallis sp., might fit the bill.

A word of caution: Be sure your children only taste either in your presence or with your okay. Sometimes people think that only non-toxics are planted in public spaces. That is definitely not true. I've guided a fair number of wild edible walks. Once you start picking leaves or fruit, it can become a free-for-all minus the precautions. While I can identify lots of things growing in urban waste places as edible, they would not be wholesome: heavy metals, possible insecticides, human or animal waste, ground or water pollution, etc. If you teach your kids that they can eat a rose petal, you don't want them eating them at will.