Growing certain plants together can encourage healthy growth, attract beneficial insects and repel bad insects. Planting some flowers in your vegetable garden can reap some of these great benefits! So here are some of the best flowers for your vegetable garden.
Companion Planting
Companion planting is the practice of growing certain plants together to enhance their production. Planting vegetables and fruits with herbs, flowers, and other vegetables can provide many natural health benefits to your garden
The bright colors and scents of flowers and herbs also repel harmful insects and attract beneficial insects and pollinators. Check out this great companion planting guide that go with the top 10 vegetables grown.
Marigolds
Marigolds can attract bees and other pollinators to your vegetable garden.
On top of attracting great pollinators, they actually bring many beneficial insects that can act like an organic pest control. They can help attract bugs like ladybugs, hoverflies, lacewings and other other insects that will eat insects like aphids and more that can destroy your plants and their crop.
Other pros to marigolds in your garden is that they’re fairly easy to grow, can be used to create natural yellow dye, attract butterflies, be cut for decorative flowers and even dried for longer lasting arrangements.
Zinnia
Zinnia’s are also another great pollinator to add to your garden. On top of your normal pollinators, they also attract hummingbirds!
These flowers are also easy to plant and grow, as well as attracting beneficial insects. Zinnias are also annuals, so they can reseed themselves by letting the blossoms die and fall off in the fall, or you can save seeds for replanting the next year.
Other than the obvious benefits of having flowers for pollinators, zinnias can be used as what’s referred to as a sacrificial crop. Some bugs like Japanese beetles can be drawn to some of your vegetables. If you find yourself having a problem with these beetles, plant zinnias nearby to attract them to the flowers, instead of your vegetables plants.
Zinnias are also cut-and-come-again blossoms. As long as you keep up on dead heading the spent blossoms on your zinnia plant, they will keep blooming more! They also make great for being cut flowers for decoration in your home.
Cosmos
Cosmos are another beautiful, colorful flower to add to your garden this year!
A great attractor for beneficial insects and pollinators, cosmos are also great for attracting aphids away from your vegetables. You can also never have enough pollinators!
Cosmos are also easy to grow, great cut flowers, and will keep producing blossoms if dead headed regularly. They are also drought resistant after they have been established.
These flowers can also self-sow by allowing them to naturally die at end of season, or you can save the seeds for next year.
Nasturtium
Nasturtium flowers are well known for their bright colors and being easy to grow. They are good for not only deterring pests, but also trapping them, and are also another good sacrificial plant for your garden.
These flowers attract hoverflies which kill and eat aphids, and also repel black flies and slugs.
Another added bonus of planting Nasturtium’s, is you can make bug repellent for your garden plants form the petals! Take 1 cup of petals, to 4 cups of boiling water, steep for 20-30 minutes, strain and let cool. Add to a spray bottle and spray on your vegetable, fruit and other plants as often as needed.
Chamomile
Chamomile is a flowering herb, used a lot for tinctures and teas. This happy little white flowers can also do many little jobs to help boost your garden.
It repels bad insects while attracting beneficial ones. It can improve soil nutrients and also encourage faster growth and better taste in your plants.
Chamomile also has antibacterial and antifungal properties that help with mold, mildew, and blight.
When to plant flowers in your garden
For effectiveness, its a good idea to start your flowers (if growing them from seed) several weeks before your garden plants so they’re able to make the best difference for your garden crop.
Do research to find the best variety of each flower. Some flower plants are bushes, vines, climbers or mixture! There is also different variety of each flower type. So let there be no surprises and read up on what your choice of flower(s) you want to do.
I don’t know about you, but I am sure going to add more flowers to my vegetable garden this year!
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