Is your vegetable garden looking more dull and boring than ever? Well, as strange as it sounds, flowers may actually be able to help you with that.
In this article, I’ve curated a list of flowers for you that could potentially help your vegetable garden thrive. And, yes, I’ve already tried and tested most of these flowers, so this is coming from experience.
Let’s dive into it!
Flowers That Could Improve Your Vegetable Garden
1: Marigolds
Marigolds are a popular one here. I’ve mentioned marigolds in many of my articles regarding pest prevention in the garden. These vibrant blooming flowers repel aphids, nematodes, and other harmful pests and insects that may attack your vegetables while also improving soil health at the same time.
2: Nasturtiums
Used as trap crops by many gardeners, nasturtiums serve a very important purpose which is to distract aphids and flea beetles away from the main crops, keeping them out of harm’s way.
3: Sunflowers
The popular sunflower isn’t only useful for adding beauty and color to the garden but also for attracting pollinators that positively impact the garden ecosystem. Sunflowers can also serve as natural trellises for climbing veggies.
4: Lavender
Known for its fragrant spikes, lavender not only adds a soothing touch and aroma to the garden but also works incredibly well for deterring moths, mosquitoes, and rabbits while attracting pollinators like bees at the same time.
5: Calendula
Although I don’t talk about calendulas much in my published work, the truth is that I have an entire calendula patch in my mom’s garden that produces beautiful blooms and is very productive.
Calendulas are known to attract pollinators and repel harmful insects that could be feeding on your vegetables behind the scenes.
6: Zinnias
Zinnias are excellent for drawing in natural pollinators like bees, butterflies, and ladybugs to the garden. These insects not only improve overall garden pollination but also give the landscape a brighter, livelier look.
If you have tomatoes and other vegetables growing in your garden, zinnias will save you the hassle of self-pollinating plants.
7: Borage
I’ve talked about the unique texture and vibrance of borage flowers often. They don’t miss when it comes to striking elegance. These flowers contain certain compounds that ward off harmful pests like tomato hornworms.
Borages in the garden are also useful for drawing in pollinators and drastically improving soil health at the same time.
8: Alyssum
So, alyssums are quite unique in the sense that they act as living mulch in the garden. Now, what do I mean by this?
Well, alyssums offer foliage that grows close to the ground and can cover large areas in a relatively short time. This foliage helps with moisture retention and weed suppression. They also draw in beneficial insects like lacewings and ladybugs that help clean out the garden ecosystem.
9: Petunias
As beautiful as petunias are, people often think beauty is the only element they bring to the garden. Petunias are very productive when it comes to pest-repelling and can easily keep squash bugs, aphids, and beetles away from your vegetable crops if planted in close enough proximity.
10: Chrysanthemums
Despite the strange name, chrysanthemums work quite productively as a natural insecticide, keeping harmful pests and insects that could damage your vegetable crops at bay. This is thanks to a compound called pyrethrin that chrysanthemums naturally contain.
11: Cosmos
Like zinnias, cosmos too tend to attract beneficial insects that have a positive impact on the garden ecosystem.
If you’re having problems with aphids and mealybugs in particular, planting cosmos can bring in insects like hoverflies that naturally prey on these pests, helping to wipe out large pest populations that may be multiplying at a fast rate and wreaking havoc on your precious crops.
