What Flowers Should I Plant With My Vegetable Garden?
- Gardening Expert and Host of Growing a Greener World®March 8, 2025
For years, I’ve known of the many benefits of having a biodiverse garden. Over those years, I have faithfully added flowering bulbs, native perennials, and other flowering plants to attract a wide range of wildlife. Not only does it provide beauty to the landscape, but more importantly, I’m doing my part to attract beneficial insects and pollinators by providing them a wide range of nectar and pollen throughout the year.
As apparent as that was to improving the natural health of my overall landscape, I was slow to adopt those same principles to my vegetable garden. As a longtime organic gardener, I knew how to create and maintain a healthy, thriving vegetable garden, even without adding flowers. But, fortunately, that all changed for the better when a few years ago, I decided to fully commit to adding a generous amount of flowers into my planting scheme within the vegetable garden.
To be clear, integrating flowers into your vegetable garden isn't just about adding a splash of color; it's a time-tested strategy that offers many benefits, enhancing both the health and productivity of your garden. So, let's delve into five of the most compelling reasons to embrace this harmonious planting approach.
1. Attracting Beneficial Insects: By providing flowers from a diverse range of species, these varied flower forms and shapes provide greater access to nectar and pollen. This diversity encourages a wider range of beneficial insects to reside in your garden, aiding in pollination, and can lead to better fruit set and higher yields in crops like squash and cucumbers.
2. Natural Pest Control: Beyond attracting beneficial insects to help with pest control, certain flowers act as natural repellents to common garden pests. For instance, marigold roots release compounds that can suppress soil-dwelling nematodes, reducing the need for chemical interventions.
Flowers such as alyssum and calendula attract beneficial insects like hoverflies and parasitic wasps, which are natural predators of many garden pests.
Similarly, planting nasturtiums near vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers can serve as a trap crop, luring aphids away from your prized produce.
3. Soil Health and Nutrient Cycling: Some flowering plants, particularly legumes like clover, have the ability to fix nitrogen in the soil, enriching it for neighboring plants. This natural fertilization process can enhance the growth of your vegetables without the need for synthetic fertilizers.
4. Weed Suppression: Ground-covering flowers can act as living mulch, suppressing weed growth by shading the soil and reducing the space available for weeds to establish. This leads to less competition for nutrients and water, benefiting your vegetable plants.
5. Biodiversity and Beauty: Integrating flowers into your vegetable garden brings it to life like nothing else by transforming it into a vibrant and inviting environment. This biodiversity not only supports a more resilient ecosystem, making your garden less susceptible to pests and diseases, but it also creates a much more visually appealing space.
Implementing Flowers with Vegetables
To effectively combine flowers with your vegetable garden, strive to implement the following three-step strategy:
- Plan Thoughtfully: Consider the specific benefits each flower offers and pair them with compatible vegetables.
- Interplant Strategically: Alternate rows or clusters of vegetables and flowers to maximize the benefits of companion planting.
- Select for Continuous Bloom: Choose a variety of flowers that bloom at different times to ensure continuous support for beneficial insects throughout the growing season.
I don’t know why it took me so long to add flowers to the vegetable garden. Perhaps my hyper-focus was on a dedicated space for just the edibles. But looking back, the difference in the life and health of my garden in that very first year of incorporating flowers was dramatic.
It’s hard to adequately describe just how much more life was being drawn into the garden by providing a diverse range of flower sources for nectar and pollen that attracted so many beneficial insects, bees, and butterflies in numbers I had never experienced in my garden before.
Suffice it to say, there’s no going back. Not only is my garden naturally healthier and with fewer pest insects, but my garden is even more joyful to be in, with life and beauty all around. And the bonus of having cut flowers to bring into the house throughout the year is a special perk my entire family can appreciate, too.
