Do you have a vegetable garden?
So maybe you're racking your brains about how to organize your crops.
Did you know that flowers and vegetables often go hand in hand? These are called companion plants.
So maybe it's time to rethink your garden plan.
Companionship increases yields and keeps crops healthy .
And what's more, it's easy to make even for beginners.
The purpose of growing vegetables and flowers together is to attract bees and other beneficial insects.
Without bees, there is no pollination and therefore no or less production.
Not to mention the fact that helping bees find food is essential, especially at a time when they are being decimated by pesticides.
You can also plant flowers to specifically attract butterflies, hummingbirds and other interesting species.
But combining flowers and vegetables also has other virtues.
For example:marigold flowers next to melons control nematodes in the soil that destroy the roots of melons.
To know all the good combinations of vegetables, it's here!
Ready to start? Before buying your seeds, here are 5 tips for choosing the right flowers to plant in your vegetable garden. Watch:
For companion planting vegetables with flowers to work well, you need to select flowers that will bloom at the same time your vegetables are ripening.
If the flowers you planted aren't blooming until 2 weeks after your peas bloom, it's not going to work!
You will find flowering times on all seed packets to synchronize your planting schedule.
It's best to choose long-blooming flowers to ensure continuous blooms throughout the growing season.
The flowers that attract hummingbirds are not the same as those that attract bees or insects that are good for your vegetable patch.
Depending on the shape of the flower, it is more or less easy for different species to access nectar and pollen.
To attract bees and other pollinators, it is recommended that you choose flowers with a daisy shape, such as zinnias, cosmos, daisies, sunflowers and purple coneflowers.
Space the flower seeds when sowing them in the row.
It's about not having a clump of flowers, but a dotted line.
For this, sprinkle the flowers in the garden rather than planting them in a single clump.
You can make a row of vegetables followed by a row of flowers. Or you can mix them in the same row.
Get creative by putting flowers between 2 varieties.
For example, to separate peppers from peppers, plant marigolds or nasturtiums.
These flowers attract aphids which will not suck the sap from your pepper plants;-)
Last strategy you can use is to plant flowers to form a barrier around the vegetable garden.
If you don't want your flowers to compete with your vegetables to catch the sun's rays, choose mostly flowers that won't grow very tall.
Yes, the flowers shouldn't overshadow the vegetables, which also need the sun to grow well and soak up the sugar.
But it also depends on the vegetables you grow. Indeed, lettuces also appreciate having a little shade during the hot summer months.
For this, choose a taller flower variety such as borage or ornamental tobacco flowers.
If you are a beginner gardener, I recommend starting with annual flowers, as they are easy to grow, reliable and produce lots of flowers.
In addition, you can alternate your crops each year, because they do not grow back from one year to the next.
Think snapdragons, cosmos, sunflowers, asters, periwinkle, celosia... However, native perennials are still the best way to attract bees.
Learn about typical flowers in your area.
For example, gentian in the Alps, lavender in Provence, dog's tongues on the Atlantic coast, granite carnation in the Massif Central, chestnut thyme in Réunion and many more.
What if you want to learn even more about companion planting? I recommend this very practical guide or this guide to associated cultures.
