Flowers are excellent for companion planting in a vegetable garden. Whether you’re growing for production, fresh eating, or just for fun, flowers will liven up your veggie patch and help your garden grow better, too.
Do you plant flowers and vegetables together or do you grow them separately?
I love a good potager-style garden where flowers, vegetables, fruit, and herbs are all grown in beautiful and mutually beneficial harmony.
I believe vegetables and flowers should absolutely be grown together.
In my experience, companion planting flowers with vegetables not only produces a more beautiful garden, but also a more bountiful one, too.
Benefits to Companion Planting Flowers with Vegetables
Companion planting is growing two plants close together so they can benefit one another in some way. Some plants grow better when grown next to one another and some even enhance the flavor of certain vegetables.
For example, some people believe planting basil with tomatoes or dill with cucumbers enhances the flavor of those vegetables.
Now, I’m not entirely sure how true that is. Any vegetable I’ve had out of my own garden picked at the right time has tasted amazing regardless of what it’s planted with! But, I have noticed higher production and an overall healthier (and more enjoyable) garden when I plant mixed beds versus monoculture beds.
I truly think vegetables and flowers should be companion planted together in the garden and here’s why.
- Adds beauty
- Attracts pollinators
- Increases fruit set
- Attracts predatory insects
- Increases biodiversity
- Better crop rotation
- Edible flowers
- Decreases weed pressure
- For cut flowers
Adding Beauty
Undeniably, flowers add beauty to every garden. Most vegetables have minimal flowers or are consumed before they can flower and set seed.
Growing showy, colorful flowers will enhance the look of your vegetable garden and enliven it. Whether you’re after a neutral green and white look, all pink look, or want all the colors of the rainbow, flowers can also personalize your garden and help make your garden a reflection of the gardener.
Making a garden look good may seem like a minor thing if your main goal for gardening is maximum production, but having a beautiful space to work in is motivating when you aren’t feeling that excited about gardening.
Flowers can draw you into the garden and even make you stay a little longer than you planned!
The ebb and flow of different flowers coming in and out of bloom will make your garden more dynamic as well, and interesting to visit day after day.
I listed my favorite companion flowers in a recent post and also included several my favorite flower and vegetable combinations for visual appeal and interest. Please take a look if you’re curious!
Attracting Pollinators
Showy flowers are the best for attracting pollinators to our gardens. Just look at how many bees are on this one sunflower!
Unfortunately, the flowers on our favorite vegetable plants aren’t always the most pollen and nectar-rich flowers out there and as a result are not the best flowers for attracting pollinators.
However, planting showy companion flowers that are full of nectar and pollen will attract and support pollinators of all kinds including bumblebees, honeybees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
It’s like putting up a billboard that says, “Come here for the world’s best nectar” to all the pollinators.
In addition, flowers support pollinator life by providing a place to rest and hide. When I harvest flowers in the morning I have to be careful that I don’t accidentally bring in flowers that have sleepy bees taking a nap among the flower petals.
Pollinators are crucial to sustaining life on our planet. Plants grow flowers that need to be pollinated in order to set seed and reproduce.
Without pollinators, we would lose so many of our trees, vegetables, and plants and the animals that depend on those plants.
Why not grow more flowers to help pollinators thrive?
Increasing Fruit Set
Attracting pollinators also increases the fruit set on your plants.
If you are growing any type of fruiting vegetable, then having pollinators in your garden is a must.
These include:
- tomatoes
- peppers
- zucchini/courgette
- summer squash
- cucumbers
- winter squash
- pumpkins
- watermelon
- cantaloupe/muskmelon
- fava bean
- eggplant
Even self-pollinating vegetables like tomatoes and peppers will benefit from having bumblebees visit and pollinate the flowers.
I’ve had friends ask me for advice because they weren’t getting cucumbers or squash to set fruit in their brand-new gardens.
“The plants are covered in flowers,” they’d say, “but we’re not getting any cucumbers.”
As it turns out, these brand-new vegetable gardens were planted exclusively with vegetables and no flowers. Pollinators simply hadn’t discovered the cucumber and squash flowers in the new gardens.
Make sure to plant the showiest, most nectar rich flowers right next to the vegetables that need pollination for fruit development.
Some of my favorite bee magnets include:
- zinnias
- anise hyssop
- lavender
- bee balm
- cosmos
Attracting Predatory Insects
A third reason for companion planting flowers is that they supply food and habitat for predatory insects of all kinds.
Hoverflies, ladybugs, soldier beetles, dragonflies, and wasps are a few beneficial insects to have in the garden because they feed on other bugs including pests.
I remember the first time I saw a wasp eating a cabbage moth caterpillar. I literally cheered the wasp on!
Cabbage moths are one of my most hated pests. They eat my broccoli; they are all over the kale and bok choy; and they have eaten my poor brassica seedlings down to nubs if I leave the garden uncovered.
Having a strong predatory insect population can help reduce pest pressure and lead to a healthier, organic garden.
Keep in mind, though, that if you spray your garden to eliminate pests, you will be negatively affecting your predatory and beneficial insect population as well.
It can be really hard to let nature run its course, but using barriers like insect netting to keep pests off your prized vegetables as well as allowing pests to consume a sacrificial plant can help while you build up your beneficial insect population.
For example, nasturtiums are my sacrificial plant to aphids. They always seem to be covered in black aphids in the spring, but my peas and favas (which I would rather be eating) are typically left alone instead.
If you can be patient, planting plenty of companion flowers and not spraying pesticides or herbicides will pay off in the long run.
Increasing Biodiversity
Adding flowers to any garden will increase biodiversity.
Biodiversity is crucial for our gardens because it helps to balance our little ecosystem.
The more varieties of plants, animals, fungi, and insects we can support on our land, the better our gardens will be.
Honestly, it’s just more fun to be in a garden that is full of diverse life. You never know what you’ll discover from day to day. A giant mushroom? Baby praying mantises? A young robin learning to fly?
We’ve already discussed how flowers attract pollinators and beneficial insects. But did you know flowers also attract birds?
Certain flowers, like sunflowers and zinnias, produce seeds that birds love to eat.
Birds can either be helpful or a pest in the garden, but I do like supporting nesting birds because they like to catch insects to feed their young. And there’s always an abundance of insects in my garden! I also make sure to keep my berries netted so that the birds can’t take them all for themselves!
Having a range of different plants growing in your garden supports not only beneficial insects, the soil, and yourself, but also a number of other creatures.
By increasing the biodiversity of your garden, it can become a thriving ecosystem full of life and activity, and in turn, will produce more food for you to harvest.
Better Crop Rotation
Companion flowers are a great way to rotate crop families and prevent disease and nutrient deficiencies from occurring year after year.
It’s important to rotate crop families and grow a variety of plants to keep the soil from becoming depleted.
If you were stuck on a deserted island, you wouldn’t want to only eat coconuts, would you? You’d want to have pineapples, peppers, fish, and eggs, too! Having different kinds of plants creates diversity in the diet of the soil organisms. Rotating plants and growing a variety both take away and return different kinds of nutrients to the soil which makes for an overall healthier garden.
Being able to add flowers from a different plant family than your usual vegetables (think nightshades, alliums, and brassicas) gives so many more options for crop rotation if your garden space is limited.
You may want to plant tomatoes in one spot, cucumbers there the next year, and cosmos there the year after that.
To be honest, I’m not very strict about crop rotation. As long as I’m adding good-quality compost, and not seeing heavy pest pressure or having disease issues, I have no problem with planting the same crop family in the same spot the following year.
However, it is very important to keep the soil from becoming depleted, so I also allow the plants roots and fallen leaves to decompose naturally in place in addition to amending the soil in the fall and spring.
All in all, it’s definitely beneficial to know that flowers can be added to the rotation if you struggle with heavy pest pressure or disease on certain vegetables.
Edible Flowers
Not only are these companion flowers beautiful, but many are edible as well, adding beauty and flavor to your food.
It can be tough to find organically grown edible flowers to buy from the store, and if you do find them, they are expensive for just a few flowers.
So the solution is to grow your own!
Borage flowers, for example, tastes like cucumbers. Pineapple sage has pineapple-scented leaves that you can use in cooking. Lavender can be made into tea or used in baked goods. Violas and pansies also are edible and can brighten up spring salads.
Edible flowers are a fun addition to a vegetable garden and will serve as a beautiful garnish for your homegrown and home-cooked meals.
Here’s a list of edible flowers to try in your garden and on your plate:
- borage
- lavender
- violas
- pansies
- calendula (petals only)
- dill
- chrysanthemum (shungiku)
- marigold
- nasturtium
- anise hyssop
- rose
- bachelor’s buttons
Decreasing Weed Pressure
Mother Nature is modest and will cover her bare soil one or another. Would you rather have her grow weeds or would you rather plant beautiful and beneficial flowers instead?
Keeping your soil covered by growing companion flowers will prevent weeds from taking hold. While I do use comfrey as mulch occasionally, living mulch is better because it constantly renews itself and the plant roots form a community that helps feed soil bacteria over time. Use flowers as a living mulch to keep your soil covered and shaded.
My favorite flower to use as living mulch is sweet alyssum. Sweet alyssum has shallow roots, grows low, and spreads. It also smells wonderful (like honey) and flowers from late spring to the end of fall or whenever we get a hard frost.
I don’t know about you, but I would 100% rather have sweet alyssum filling in bare spots in the garden over weeds!
For Cut Flowers
Many companion flowers also make great cut flowers. Zinnias, celosia, sunflowers, and dahlias are all great companion flowers and cut flowers.
As an added bonus, cut-and-come again flowers like zinnias, celosia, and cosmos, will flower more when cut regularly.
If you’re interested in growing a bouquet like this one, make sure to check out my post on easy cut flowers for beginners.
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Grow Vegetables and Flowers Together for a More Productive Garden
Vegetables and flowers do not need to be separated in the garden, and in fact, can benefit one another by being grown together.
I love seeing the flowers and pollinators while I harvest vegetables and work in the garden, and I hope you try companion planting vegetables and flowers together this season.
If you’re interested in learning more about companion planting, be sure to check out this post on my favorite companion flowers next.
I would also recommend reading Vegetables Love Flowers by Lisa Mason Ziegler for more on growing different kinds of flowers.