4 Flowers You Need to Grow in Your Garden
In my experience, when most people plan out their backyard gardens, what comes to mind are edibles… herbs, vegetables, fruit bushes and trees. Many home gardeners don’t think to consider flowers,I know I didn’t.
In my mind flowers where something that you admired and purchased not something you grow. And I never truly understood how essential they were to the garden.
Flowers can be important in a garden for many reasons, including:
Pollination
Flowers attract pollinators like bees and butterflies, which carry pollen from male plants to female plants to help with fertilization. This process is essential for plants to reproduce and create seeds, which allow the species to survive.
Pest control
Flowers can repel pests like cutworms and cabbage caterpillars.
Soil health
Some flowers, like legumes and peas, can add nutrients like nitrogen to the soil, which can help balance deficiencies caused by heavy feeding vegetables.
Shade and support
Flowers can provide shade for delicate vegetables or support for climbing vines.
Beauty
Flowers can add color, texture, and variety to a garden. They can also be fragrant and aesthetically pleasing.
This year, we picked a few different types of flowers for our garden. They bring us joy, help nature, and support our garden's well-being. Let's check out our chosen flowers and reasons behind them.
Best flowers for your vegetable garden: Add these colorful blooms to beautify and attract helpful pollinators for a healthier garden.
Sweet-Alyssum
Alyssum
Also known as Lobularia maritima, is a delightful European plant highly esteemed for its aesthetic appeal, as well as its culinary versatility due to its edible leaves, stems, and tasty flowers. In Spain, it holds a special place in traditional healing practices. When strategically placed near crops like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, eggplant, and lettuce, this plant not only aids in pest management but also supports essential pollination processes. Its charming blooms act as a magnet for beneficial insects such as hoverflies and wasps that play a crucial role in controlling populations of destructive pests like aphids and caterpillars.
It is best to grow this fast-growing plant in the early spring. It proliferates from seed. You can start the seeds indoors before the last frost and transplant them outdoors after the threat of frost has passed. Alyssum is somewhat frost-tolerant once established, but tender transplants are not hardy enough for frost
Nasturtium
The plant Tropaeolum, commonly known as nasturtium, originated from the Andes Mountains in Peru. For generations natives used every part of this flower for a source of food and for its medicinal purposes. Not only are they beautiful and smell great they offer an array of benefits for you food.
Nasturtiums are excellent companions for brassica plants like cabbage, kale, and Brussels sprouts. They deter common pests like aphids, whiteflies, and cabbage loopers. Beans and Tomatoes: Aphids and other similar pests can be a big problem for beans and tomatoes.
Grow nasturtiums in moist well-drained soil. Water well until plant is established and then provide regular water. Nasturtiums prefer cooler weather, so in warm climates grow plants in partial shade (4-6 hours of sun) to prolong their growing season. In cool climates, plant nasturtiums in full sun.
Zinnias
Did you know there are many different variety of Zinnia, over 20 actually. Zinnia is a genus of plants of the tribe Heliantheae within the family Asteraceae. They are native to scrub and dry grassland in an area stretching from the Southwestern United States to South America, with a centre of diversity in Mexico.
This long bloom season makes them excellent for landscape color in mixed plantings or for cutting gardens. Zinnias are one of the best annuals for attracting pollinators, especially butterflies. Interplant zinnias between rows of vegetables or as a border around vegetables to attract more pollinators to your garden.
Marigolds
Marigolds
Marigolds are probably the most well known of these options because of their natural ability to repel nematodes. This aids in the growth of many fruiting veggies such as tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, squash, etc.
Marigolds can help control pests by attracting beneficial insects that eat them, such as ladybugs, lacewings, hoverflies, and parasitic wasps. Marigolds can also repel some insects, including flies, wasps, mosquitoes, cabbage moths, tomato hornworms, squash bugs, and Mexican bean beetles. Marigolds contain a natural compound that's used in many insect repellents.
Marigolds attract pollinators like bees, they release a toxic chemical that helps control nematodes. The insects that marigolds attract can also attract insectivorous birds, which can help the rest of your garden. Did you know the petals are edible and can be used as a natural topical treatment for skin issues like burns, bug bites, rashes, and eczema.
Flowers are not only essential to your beautiful garden, but they also bring a huge benefit to our precious environment. They attract pollinators, provide food for birds, and enhance the overall ecosystem
Adding a mix of beautiful and edible flowers to your garden can transform your outdoor space into a sensory delight. Whether you are an experienced gardener or just starting, these flowers are easy to grow and offer numerous benefits. So, why not plant some marigolds, nasturtiums, Alyssum, or Zinnias this season and enjoy the visual, aromatic, and culinary rewards they bring?
God Bless and Happy Growing