10 Flowers to Plant in your Vegetable Garden

You might consider squeezing in some space to grow some of these flowers in your vegetable garden. They will add some color and help your plants thrive!

Do you have flowers planted in your vegetable garden? I’ll admit that I didn’t before this last planting season. It didn’t take me long, though, to incorporate some beautiful varieties.

Lately I have been loving calendula and chamomile ~ both are so easy to grow and have been fun to use in some of my favorite soap recipes.

Not only can flowers in your veggie garden provide some color, they can also encourage pollination and help deter pests.

I don’t know about you, but any opportunity to keep pests out of the garden is a definite must!

10 Flowers to Plant in your Vegetable Garden

Some flowers are also great at repelling harmful insects while others fix nutrients into the soil keeping your garden healthy. With that in mind, here are 10 flowers that you can plant in your vegetable garden.

Calendula

Apart from its cheerful daisy-like appearance, this flower is an annual herb that helps get rid of whiteflies and aphids. It keeps them off your crops by producing a sticky sap that traps these pests. Plus it can be used as a cover crop over the winter thanks to its capacity to hold the soil in place.

Once they are ready to harvest, do it mid-day, once the morning frost has passed and the calendula petals are dry. Then cut the stems, as close to the flower head as possible.

Remember: you can’t over pick them! Harvesting them forces the plant to send out more buds.

Dry your calendula and infuse in olive oil for cold process soap making, salves, and other beauty items. Or, enjoy in tea.

Marigold

This one is an all year bloomer whose roots and flowers act as an insecticide after about 4 months of growth. If you have some slug infestation in your vegetable firm, this flower can cure that as well as parasitic nematodes. Its capacity to repel insects makes it perfect for a potato or tomato garden.

If you have green beans in your garden, marigolds are a must.  They work wonderfully to help keep pesky rabbits from eating your green bean plants as they start to seed.

Rose of Sharon

Rose of Sharon is a late bloomer and an excellent flower in the attraction of butterflies and bees. Its root goes deep, therefore, giving less competition for nutrients to your vegetables and its leaves can be cooked or eaten raw.

Lavender

With a capacity to grow in colder zones, this flower has a reputation for keeping insects out of your vegetable garden. The plant produces an effective pest deterrent that confuses pests and mice while attracting bees and butterflies for pollination.

Furthermore, it can be used to infuse olive oil for cold process soap, to make herbal teas, homemade bath bombs and even a simple bath soak.

Chamomile

Chamomile has a unique capacity to retain the nutrients of your garden. With its lacy foliage, this flower will attract pollinators to your garden easily. It also has deep roots and a beautiful display that will brighten up your garden.

Nasturtium

With peppery flowers and leaves, Nasturtium gives off a strong scent that is an effective pest repellent. It can be grown alongside sweet potatoes thanks to its dense low growing nature that makes it perfect for soil cover while keeping the soil healthy.

Black Eyed Susan

We might have encountered Black Eyed Susan somewhere! Well, apart from it being a beautiful flower for decorating your vegetable garden, this plant is highly attractive to butterflies and bees.

You can plant it along the borders of your garden for the best results.

Phacelia

This flower is also known as the scorpion weed. As scary as that might sound, Phacelia has one unique application for your garden. It can be used as green manure keeping your garden rich in nutrients.

Cosmos

With its beautiful blooms, Cosmos is a favorite flower for pollinators like bees and butterflies. It is useful for bean and tomatoes gardens thanks to its hardy annual growth nature.

Angelica

Angelica if famous for attracting beneficial insects that feed on pests like aphids. With attractive flowers that pull in bees, this plant will help with pollination in your garden as well. Plus, its leaves are edible.