Why You Should Always Plant Flowers In Your Vegetable Patch
If you are still growing flowers and vegetables on opposite sides of your garden, it's time to rethink your garden plan.
Complementary planting of flowers and vegetables in the same beds is a strategy used by professional growers to increase productivity and keep crops healthy, and it is also easy and beneficial for beginners.
Maggie Saska, a plant production specialist at the Rodale Institute organic farm, says the most important reason to grow flowers in her bed is to attract native bees and other beneficial insects.
Brighten Your Space with Beautiful Flowers – Discover Top Varieties Today!
Without the bees stopping in your garden to eat nectar and exchange pollen, you will have a very disappointing harvest.
Plus, planting bee-friendly flowers near your veggies also helps struggling pollinator populations and biodiversity.
You can also plant flowers specifically to attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and other desirable species.
Ready to start? Before ordering your seeds, here are five tips that Saska says are important to consider when selecting flower varieties for her garden.
1. Pay attention to the flowering time
For supplemental flower planting to work, you need to select flowers that bloom at the same time as your vegetarian crops.
If the kind you've planted doesn't flower until two weeks after your peas have finished blooming, your peas will be out of luck.
The seed packets will tell you when the flowers will bloom after planting, so you can synchronize your planting schedule.
However, it is a good idea to plant a variety of flowers to ensure you have continuous blooms throughout the growing season.
2. Consider the shape of the flower
The flowers that attract hummingbirds are not the same that attract beneficial bees or wasps.
The shape of the flower makes it easier or more difficult for different species to access nectar and pollen.
To attract bees and other pollinators, Saska recommends choosing flowers with a compound shape, such as zinnias, cosmos, daisies, sunflowers, and purple coneflower.
3. Space them
Sprinkle flowers throughout your garden rather than planting them on a single bush. How you do it is up to you.
You can plant a row of vegetables followed by a row of flowers, or you can intersperse them in the same row.
Consider being strategic and using flowers to divide a row and indicate where the peppers end and the peppers begin. Or plant flowers to form a border around the bed.
4. Think about height
You don't want your flowers to compete with your vegetables for sunlight, so choose mostly low-growing flowers.
However, some crops (like lettuce) can benefit from some shade during the summer months, so it occasionally makes sense to choose a taller variety.
5. Start simple
Saska recommends that beginners start working with annual flowers because they grow easily and produce many flowers.
You also don't have to worry about them showing up in the same place every year if you want to change your garden design. (Start with these annual flowers that you can easily grow from seed.)
However, native perennials are one of the best ways to attract native bees, so don't completely leave them out of your backyard.
The Xerces Society provides an excellent region-by-region guide to pollinator-friendly plants (mostly perennials) and includes information on flowering time, height, and watering needs.
We hope you enjoy this video about Companion Planting - Why vegetables need friends:
Source: GrowVeg
Did you find this post Useful or Inspiring? Save THIS PIN to your GARDENING Board on Pinterest! 
Once again, thank you for visiting our website!
We hope you've enjoyed exploring the content we've created for you.
Give yourself the chance to learn, get inspired, and have even more fun, keep browsing...
Last update on 2025-01-21 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
More Gardening Tips 👇🏼👇🏼