If the idea of inviting flowers into your vegetable garden may surprise any good gardener, it is in fact very logical. Indeed, some vegetable plants attract many harmful pests. Unfortunately, fruits and vegetables can suffer, hence the idea of planting at least 1/3 of flowers among your seeds in order to protect them from unwanted insects. Planting a few well-chosen varieties of flowers will also attract pollinating insects (butterflies, bumblebees, bees or wasps), which will help the pollination of tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, zucchini, eggplants, etc., allowing them to thrive. This can also help limit the risk of disease and promotes biodiversity in the garden. Discover these protective flowers to grow in your vegetable garden!
1) The marigold, the top flower to have in the vegetable garden or in the garden
Marigolds have the ability to attract hoverflies whose larvae feed on aphids. These annual flowers are easy to grow in a small vegetable garden and can also repel white flies that attack tomato plants, cabbage maggots and Colorado beetles, which are very harmful to potatoes and solanaceous plants. We advise you to plant this flower in priority next to tomato, lettuce, zucchini, eggplant, cabbage or carrot plantations.
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2) The marigolds, the flowers that chase away the aphids in the vegetable garden
The marigold is very popular in gardening for its strong repellent power on aphids. It can also repel flea beetles that lurk around cabbages and nematodes and whiteflies that attack the roots of tomatoes. This flower will indeed secrete substances that are harmful to the insects on the ground. Carrot flies and ants also fear it. To make matters worse, the marigold will bring vigor to vegetables and small fruits in the garden, especially tomatoes, cucumbers or other plants with strong development. The harvest will therefore be even better for gardeners who make room for it in their garden!
3) Lavender
Your plants and vegetables love it! Lavender is a plant to have blooming in your garden to scare away ants and aphids. In addition to protecting the vegetable garden, these flowers can also be slipped into planters to scare away mosquitoes.
4) Nasturtiums
Nasturtium is not known for its repellent powers. In fact, it’s quite the opposite! In fact, it will attract aphids from the garden, which will then turn away from your plantations. In addition, nasturtiums attract ladybugs that help pollinate the garden and feed on aphids. Moreover, their flowers are edible (and rich in vitamin C). So they’re good for everything!
5) Borage, one of the best melliferous flowers to plant in the garden
Having a plantation of borage flowers in the vegetable garden is very useful. Already, borage offers a generous and prolonged bloom that attracts honey insects that help tomatoes, zucchini and other plants to grow. Bees are very fond of this hardy plant! It is less known, but it also keeps slugs and snails away as well as the tomato sphinx. Finally, the most greedy will be happy to learn that its flowers are edible. They are generally eaten in salads. They have their place in the vegetable garden!
6) Forget-me-not
This is THE flower to plant near raspberry plants. Indeed, one of the difficulties when planting them is that worms are particularly fond of them. Their repeated attacks can end up being fatal to raspberry plants. To avoid this, rely on forget-me-nots which will effectively scare them away!
7) Thistle
Often mistaken for a weed, thistle is actually a gardener’s ally. By chasing away slugs and snails, it does the vegetable garden a great service!
