Although the focus in my garden is on ornamentals including trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants and bulbs, I grow a few vegetables, too. This year, my 6-year-old daughter decided to add some flowers to the vegetable garden. So, in addition to squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs and beans, we are growing red passion vine, sunflowers and lantana.

With watering, weeding and fencing to keep the dog out, I don't know if we are saving money on fresh vegetables but, according to my daughter (and I have to agree), the vegetables we grow always taste better than those we buy.

Erica Glasener / AJC Special (ENLARGE)

The ornamental Hummingbird plant bears brilliant orange flowers from late spring until fall.

Erica Glasener / AJC Special (ENLARGE)

The free-standing, espaliered Bartlett pears in the Critz family's yard were loaded with fruit last year.

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Combining ornamentals and edibles is not a new idea, but how it is implemented varies depending on the design of the individual garden. When John and Melissa Critz of Druid Hills hired Atlanta garden designer David McMullin of New Moon Gardens, they told him they wanted an Italian country garden that would include both ornamentals and edibles. David's design is appropriate not only to the Mediterranean architecture of the house, but to the site and growing conditions.

The first thing you notice is that the garden takes up the whole front yard, an oval of lawn surrounded by plants. Starting with a dry, exposed site that is sharply draining, David chose plants that would be happy in this environment. He included those that are drought friendly, such as thyme, rosemary and lavender. Instead of a few rosemary plants, he planted a hillside in rows to give a sense of agriculture.

David decided to feature the two large existing specimen Japanese maples in the landscape. Centipede was chosen for the lawn because it requires the least maintenance of the warm-season grasses.

On one side of the oval lawn, free-standing espaliered Bartlett pears are planted in the center of a bed that also includes French lavender, Lavandula intermedia "Provence," and rosemary. Yes, the pears do bear; Melissa said last year they were loaded with fruit.

English thyme, Thymus vulgaris, provides a ground cover, and the Hummingbird plant, Dicliptera suberecta, which is strictly ornamental, adds brilliant orange flowers from late spring until fall.

Other edibles include oregano and Welsh chives, Allium fistulosum, with hollow stems and decorative flowers.

On the opposite side of the oval, a double row of young Celeste fig trees eventually will create an allee. Their small brown to purple fruits are known for their sweet flavor. In front of the figs are small Italian cypress, which create a vertical accent. Pineapple guavas and Blue lyme grass, Elymus arenarius, make reference to a wild meadow. Japanese boxwood standing as sentries at designated points are being trained in the shape of chickens.

It's obvious that John and Melissa love plants and, although the garden has a strong design, it also maintains its own quirky feel, in part due to the way plants are pruned or not.

Above all this is a garden to be enjoyed by the Critz family, whether they are picking pears or relaxing on the lawn.

Erica Glasener is a horticulturist and host of HGTV's "A Gardener's Diary" at 7 a.m. Thursdays.