I find all vegetables beautiful, so I may not have much to offer. However, I grew some giant amaranth this summer and it's breathtaking in form and color - it would make a great background planting.

Kale is beautiful while growing. So are Chinese pea pods on a trellis with their pinkish-lavender blooms. I think curled parsley is beautiful enough to use as a filler in flower arrangements, though I prefer the flat-leafed parsley for taste. I may be weird, but I also think squash plants are gorgeous if given enough room to do their thing!

Many lettuce varieties are gorgeous.

Steve

Runner beans and okra are frequently grown as ornamentals as are some cultivars of peppers, flowering cabbage and flowering kale.

I agree about kale. My red russian kale was beautiful until I ate most of it last week.

I cannot imagine anything growing much more beautiful than a large watermelon.

Most of the hot peppers, especially the smaller varieties which hold the pods in an upright position, are very attractive, especially as the fruits ripen. All of the things mentioned above, kale, rainbow chard, fennel (especially the bronze-leaved fennel), come to mind, as does red shiso, the "Japanese Basil," some amaranth varieties, okra can be reasonably attractive in bloom, especially the red pigmented variety. The "Red Shield" type annual (in cold climates) hibiscus, which is the source of hibiscus tea and the "sorrel" drink of Jamaica, is also very attractive as a foliage plant, although it generally won't bloom in northern climates. Perhaps the most stunningly beautiful, in my opinion, is the artichoke, which opens up, if unharvested, into a six to eight inch wide thistle flower which is very attractive to butterflies. There is a an "annual" variety which will produce chokes the first year in the north if vernalized at the two-leaf stage as a seedling -- it is called Imperial Star (or something along those lines) and is widely available in the seed catalogs. Another REALLY pretty plant is Japanese corn, Zea mays japonica, which has white and pink striped leaves, and grows into a dark, burgundy ear of corn which I believe is actually a popcorn, although I've never tried popping it. This plant is definitely pretty enough for the flower bed. Coriander when allowed to bolt has beautiful white, delicate miniature queen anne's lace type flowers. Jerusalem artichokes actually bloom in early autumn with beautiful sprays of small yellow sunflowers, because it is a helianthus, but the plant itself is tall, weedy, ugly in my opinion, and tends to flop all over before the summer is done. Carrots and onions overwinter and produce nice flowers. The very best overwintering vegetable for flowers is the leek, which produces stems up to four or five feet tall and an alium flower exactly like ornamental alliums such as globemaster, except that the color is a pale lavender fading to white, instead of deep purple. Bees love leek flowers.

Someone should do an ornamental annual bed of strictly edibles -- this would be really fun to see.

One that has not been mentioned is the sweet potato which is also available in ornamental cultivars.

I agree about all the plants you guys mentioned: and I would add Ichiban or Black Beauty eggplants. Makes a medium sized "bush" with navy blue veined leaves and has cute baby-blue flowers. (Not to mention the glossy black or deep purple eggplant "fruit")

Yes, scarlet runner-bean is stunning. And common thistle has beautiful flowers, a bit like artichoke to which it's related. If you are scottish then it's a must-have.

If you want to draw insect pollinators let carrot, parsnip, fennel, and angelica go to seed. On a sunny day it's a sight to see.

Asparagus and rhubarb are both decorative as well, rhubarb looks kind of tropical with it's red stems and huge leaves, and the asparagus looks kinda like a huge fern.

Lolla Rossa lettuce is magnificent in appearance. I have considered putting some in a whiskey barrel planter out in front of the house. It looks that good.

I visited a potager or ornamental vegtable garden at Stonecrop garden in Cold Spring, NY this past summer. I was much impressed by one bed consisting solely of cole crops: purple, red, black and green kale, purple and green kohlrabi, red and green cabbages, Brussels sprouts (do you know you can get these in red?), cauliflower. The kale was used in the center of the bed with the lower growing veggies around it. But they also had beds with red and yellow beets, frilly mustard greens and collards, red flowered, purple flowered and pink flowered runner beans on teepees, purple, yellow and green bush beans - and rows of many colored lettuce. One of the students was setting out rows of lettuce plants to replace the ones already harvested and she had flats in several colors. Dill and parsley are also very ornamental. And there were red and green scallions along with several kinds of onions.
You can visit the garden and the potager at www.stonecrop.org

Lots of good suggestions here. I would add that many herbs are very ornamental, such as the purple basils (which also attract bees).

More ideas can be found on the "Edible Landscaping" forum. They have a lot of fruits listed as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Edible Landscaping

I think okra, with it's hibiscus looking flowers, is quite beautiful, especially cause it means I'm picking soon. I also agree about the Ichiban eggplant and cilantro,(coriander). Don't forget chives when it flowers. And there is nothing finer than red cayenne peppers mixing with the green/red jalapenos and the orange, red and maybe next year, yellow and white haberneros and the yellow-green cunbanelles and the yellow hungarian wax and the orange and red bells....I think ya'll get it.

There's nothing ugly about a well maintained, semi-suckered, properly staked tomato plant. The bi-colored varieties are especially nice on the eyes.
Not a big fan of eggplant myself but do grow 2-3 for their unusual shinny purples.

My absolute favourite edible ornamental at the moment is red chard/silverbeet- I grow Vulcan Red & it's so gorgeous and intensely coloured I keep eyeing off my annual flower bed and wondering how long before I can turf them all out and replace them with beautiful foliage.

One of the things you have to worry about though is how it looks once you've harvested. My chard may be gorgeous in full leaf, but it doesn't look quite as lovely once I've cut half the plant off for my dinner. It grows back quickly, though.

Romanesco Veronica, from Park Seed looks really cool. I am going to try and grow it in my Childrens Garden next year.
Sarah

Pea flowers and potato flowers are pretty. And I second the lettuce, especially some of the crinkly or oak leaved red lettuce.

Howdee there

I would have to say the most attractive plant while growing is a Silvery Fur tomato. Its leaves are so silky and fern like. Its also a prolific tomato too. I don't love the flavor but its a great tomato any who

Purple

Here is a link that might be useful: silvery fir tree

If we are talking about attractive vegetables, how about some photos?

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Hyacinth bean

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Garbanzo

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Scarlet runner bean

Guess you can tell that I love beans. ;-)

Personally, I find almost any healthy, green plant to be attractive... though not for edible landscaping, I suppose. Greens in wide rows & climbing crops on tall trellises have their own beauty.