Perennial, shrubby Salvias for me too - or linarias, which behave in my garden in much the same way - they look after themselves (more or less), last for years, pollinators love them, have a huge range of colours and habits and scented leaves, often. Many ticks there. Saying 'trees' is cheating.
I don't want to play if I can only have one type of plant. Too many "favourite" plants. Clematis and roses and many herbaceous perennials at the top and grasses way down near the bottom, just above euphorbias, begonias and impatiens.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Pelargoniums. You can get them in any colour, any size, any growing habits. Grow in beds, pots, hanging baskets. Indoors and outside. Some are scented, most flower for a very long time. Cope with any kind of soil, drought tolerant. If I had to pick a vegetable - it would be chilli peppers.
After over-thinking this (could you create a garden with just one type of plant? How specific are we being? Do we have to grow them from seed? etc.) I have decided that Pelargoniums would be my choice.
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If I had to pick a vegetable - it would be chilli peppers.