If you’ve got green fingers, then we’re sure you’ll be pleased to hear that, besides vegetables, beautiful flowers can also be planted in your garden to help correctly cultivate your crops.
As an example, there are certain plants that you can grow that can help to provide structural support to your vegetable garden, while flowers such as citronella can help ward off pesky insects.
Besides that, flowers also look lovely in a vegetable garden, and you’ll be able to cut some to put in a vase for the dinner table while you choose which vegetables you’d like to prepare in a food dish.
So, without further ado, let’s check out some of the most common flowers that you can choose to plant in your vegetable garden:
Borage
Borage is a beautiful plant that helps to spark images of the English countryside, as it is most commonly found in the gardens of British cottages.
It is essentially a violet-colored herb that sprouts beautiful flowers as it germinates, which means that it will make both a beautiful and functional addition to your vegetable garden.
The violet-hued petals of the flowers it grows attract bees in their multitudes, while its edible leaves and petals have a refreshing cucumber taste that works well with meat dishes and salads, alike.
Not only that, but once you have sown it, Borage is usually able to reseed itself as and when needed, so you’re not going to need to worry about having to go to the trouble of re-sowing it each season.
Lavender
Besides its alluring fragrance and eye-catching blooms, Lavender is a practical addition to anyone’s vegetable garden.
Not only does it look beautiful, but the fragrance that a Lavender plant emits actually helps to repel several vegetable garden nuisances - from large deer and little mice, all the way to annoying moths!
Plant some in your garden and your vegetables will say thank you.
Marigold
Marigolds are an underrated gem of the vegetable garden and help to repel rabbits, beetles, thrips, hornworms, and even pesky whiteflies.
Not only that, but Marigolds are also able to emit a chemical that is able to kill root nematodes before it can even sprout from the soil, all while looking beautiful thanks to its vibrant orange flowers.
It’s a must for any gardener serious about their vegetable crops.
What should I plant around my vegetable garden?
When it comes to vegetable crops, there are a variety of flowers, plants, and herbs that you can plant in combination with the vegetables growing in your garden.
These are known simply as “companion plants” and are often used in order to help repel bugs, confuse vegetable garden pests and help aid in the healthy cultivation of the vegetable crops.
Let’s take a look at some of the best companion plants that you can sew around your vegetable garden:
Mint
If you have carrots and tomatoes growing in your vegetable garden, then you might want to think about strategically planting some mint around your garden, as it will help to repel alliums, flea beetles, and brassicas.
Be careful, though, because mint tends to spread like wildfire once planted, so make sure that you confine it to one spot by placing it in a pot.
Chives:
Garlic chives are another fantastic addition that you should think about planting in your vegetable garden, especially if you happen to grow carrots. It has a super-strong fragrance that will be able to effectively deter something known as a carrot root fly, which loves to snack on carrots. So much so, they can smell the scent of carrots from up to one mile away!
Sage
Sage, which also goes by its official name of Salvia Officinalis, is an aromatic herb that has the power to confuse brassicas insects when planted in close proximity.
On top of that, sage sprouts beautiful blue flowers that are also able to attract a variety of helpful insects, including bees which help pollinate the crops, and hoverflies which eat whiteflies.
Thyme
Another helpful addition to your vegetable garden is Thyme, which is ideal when planted next to your vegetables as it can help to repel insects, including pesky whitefly, from ruining your growing crops.
Not just that, but you can even use Thyme leaves to make an aromatic and refreshing drink - it’s perfect for unwinding!
What flowers are beneficial to vegetable gardens?
Who doesn’t love flowers? Besides helping to add plenty of visual appeal to your vegetable garden, the addition of flowers can also help to aid in the healthy growth of your vegetables while also deterring pesky insects.
Below, you’ll find a list of some of the most popular flowers that are commonly used in vegetable gardens:
Calendula
Calendula is a beautiful flower that is a vibrant yellow in color.
Besides its beauty, the Calendula flower brings about a variety of different benefits to planting it in your vegetable garden, including the ability to repel whitefly from growing tomato plants, and aphids away from sprouting beanstalks.
What’s more, thanks to its sweet fragrance, Calendula also has the ability to attract a multitude of helpful insects to your vegetable crop, including lacewings, hoverflies, and even ladybirds.
Sunflowers
Sunflowers are one of the most well-known flowering plants out there and are well-known for their large seeds and striking yellow petals.
Besides giving you the ability to pick the seeds and use them in a variety of different ways, their uniquely long stems are ideal for vining herbs and plants to grow up and flourish, as the sturdy stems offer structural support that they would otherwise not have.
Lupins
Lupins are a practical addition to anyone’s vegetable garden and can help to add much-needed nitrogen into the soil of your vegetable garden, which will help your vegetables to properly grow.
Besides that, they’re also loved by bees and will help to attract them to your vegetable garden.
